Susan Sarandon’s advice to kids: Find something that you really like to do

Children today are bombarded with imagery that can leave them with the false impression that success is easy to come by.  Susan Sarandon — mom to Eva Amurri, 23, Jack Henry, 18 and Miles Guthrie, 16 — says that our children are better served by being taught that "the most important thing is to find something that you really like to do, and if you do it well, that’s success, and you will be successful."  The challenge, Susan says, rests with getting kids to turn off their televisions and their computers long enough to figure out what that ’something’ is.

I watched some TV when I was growing up, but I never really was a screen person. I read a lot, and my daughter was the same way, possibly because her earlier years were spent in Italy, and they didn’t really watch a lot there.

The battle of my sons has been much more difficult, because the possibilities of what can entertain you has multiplied a thousandfold. My youngest guy was working a computer when he could barely reach the keys, so it’s second nature to him. … He knows everything on the Internet, so it’s been very, very challenging to try and find a way to slow that down.

Jack and Miles are into watching sports and playing Wii; They’re also big fans of Rock Band, Susan revealed. The 61-year-old Academy Award-winning actress acknowledges that television, computers and games have a place in a child’s life, but moderation is key.  To that end, technology — ironically — has at times proven to be helpful.  Says Susan,

We had the computer in a public space until this year, so we had a pretty tight ship where that’s concerned. … TiVo also made it easier to control, because when they were younger they couldn’t watch anything until their homework was done. So instead of them saying ‘My show — that one hour I’m allowed tonight — is on at a certain time,’ you could say, ‘Finish your homework, and we’ll be able to see it later!’ So it gave us a little more flexibility.

Source:  Common Sense Media; Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images