As the New Year begins, it's natural to think about resolutions and ways to improve our habits and routines, including tech time expectations. But instead of focusing on revamping screen time rules, I've been thinking about the moments over the past year when my family and I turned off, or turned over, our devices and were more present with each other.
In particular, I’ve been thinking about what I call “unspoken screen rules”--all the times we log off, consciously and unconsciously.
One of my resolutions was to talk with my family about all this over the weekend. My hope was that it would reinforce these good habits and that my family would feel appreciated.
I loved knowing that such a conversation would add positivity to our unspoken "family emotional piggy bank," which is great to have in the bank when tech troubles inevitably arise.
So I did just that. I shared some examples of times when I noticed that people in the family did not have their phones out or “logged off” in other ways. It was really fun to talk about all this.
It feels great that I already checked off one resolution by having that conversation! I’m all for a resolution that can be completed in a night. I got this idea from Jason Gay’s recent lighthearted article in the Wall Street Journal titled More New Year’s Resolutions You Can Actually Keep.
Questions to use to get the conversation started:
As the New Year begins, it's natural to think about resolutions and ways to improve our habits and routines, including tech time expectations. But instead of focusing on revamping screen time rules, I've been thinking about the moments over the past year when my family and I turned off, or turned over, our devices and were more present with each other.
In particular, I’ve been thinking about what I call “unspoken screen rules”--all the times we log off, consciously and unconsciously.
One of my resolutions was to talk with my family about all this over the weekend. My hope was that it would reinforce these good habits and that my family would feel appreciated.
I loved knowing that such a conversation would add positivity to our unspoken "family emotional piggy bank," which is great to have in the bank when tech troubles inevitably arise.
So I did just that. I shared some examples of times when I noticed that people in the family did not have their phones out or “logged off” in other ways. It was really fun to talk about all this.
One of THE most challenging things as a parent is knowing how to respond when our kids break rules around screen time. Today I write about what to do when transgressions happen, consulting about the WISE before taking action and why consequences should be short..
READ MORE >Having policies/ rules around tech is valuable and worth the work. But I am the last to claim that this is easy. You may know my personal story from Screenagers, where you saw me learning the hard way how critical it is that we find ways to involve our kids in defining screen-tome rules with us — vs. my initial, more top-down techniques. In today’s blog, I give 11 rules/policies to consider for the New Year. And I also include a couple of recent studies you may want to share with your kids.
READ MORE >Hearing ideas from people in our circles can significantly impact us in many ways. For example, it might get us to try something new, and being able to follow up with the person who shared the idea can get us through challenging times. Parents often believe other parents are much more permissive around tech than they actually are. In today’s blog, I write about ways you can help instigate more sharing of screen-time parenting approaches with your friends.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.