Calling all parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, grandparents, and every other adult who cares about young people.
We have a pledge we would love you to take today!
The pledge is simply to commit to making one small change around a screen time habit for a specific amount of time and to discuss your plans with kids in your life.
Once you take the pledge, tell your child you did, tell them what you aim to try and change and consider even asking them if they will help keep you accountable.
So often, we use the word resilience and how we want “resilient kids.” However, many kids tell me this term is confusing and vague and ask me what exactly is resilience? One of the central skills of resiliency is being able to stop and assess one's current situation and then come up with ways to make modifications. We build a sense of self-efficacy every time we make little wins in the areas we work to modify. Our kids are eager to build their resiliency skills, and a perfect way to help them is to model our process of working to make a change.
I would bet money that every single one of you reading this can think of some way that there is something related to your devices that either distracts you away from work you need to get done or displaces things you wish you did more.
Making changes, even small ones, can be super challenging, but doing this as a community can be empowering. So right now, let all of us — this wonderful Screenagers community — join together to take this Make a Change Pledge. Inherent in the Pledge is to involve our children and students.
When you click to take the pledge, you won't get asked to say what you plan to change, just that you intend to try and make a change.
So, what type of change do you want to commit to? Don’t overthink it, but by the time you finish reading this blog, just pick something! Perhaps it relates to how you often become distracted when doing work on your computer, or maybe it has to do with how you want to change up one evening a week. Perhaps it has to do with how frequently you reach for your phone.
When choosing, think about the why (the “because”) and what will you replace it with (the instead)? Be sure to tell your kids about these pieces of the pie. And remember, a tiny action can have a significant effect because the chance of success is greater when you make a small change.
(We would love if you write in the comments what you plan to try and change)
There are so many excellent discussion points you can be having with your kids throughout your Make A Change Pledge. For example, when you feel the urge to self-distract with a treat-type screen activity, how will you handle the urge?
I have written several posts regarding behavior change, and you can find them on our Screenagers blog.
Calling all parents, teachers, counselors, coaches, grandparents, and every other adult who cares about young people.
We have a pledge we would love you to take today!
The pledge is simply to commit to making one small change around a screen time habit for a specific amount of time and to discuss your plans with kids in your life.
Once you take the pledge, tell your child you did, tell them what you aim to try and change and consider even asking them if they will help keep you accountable.
We recently launched the Screenagers YouTube Channel where we will be uploading a range of new content and resources each week, such as movie clips, podcasts and other original content. I wanted this week to introduce you to the first regular feature on the channel - Screenagers Bites!
READ MORE >When was the last time you can recall apologizing to your child or teen? Apologizing to kids can have multiple positive effects. And, if you are not in the habit of doing this much, today is a great day to consider offering one out of the blue. Today, I review a few reasons why apologies are such a powerful part of parenting, a key part of nurturing a stronger relationship and teaching communication skills. I also share an apology I gave my daughter not that long ago.
READ MORE >In our new film, Screenagers Under the Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs, and Alcohol in the Digital Age, adolescent psychologist Laura Kastner discusses the importance of natural and logical consequences. Natural consequences directly respond to a person's actions or inactions, while logical consequences have some connection to the behavior being addressed. Read in today’s blog more about how this type of punishment can backfire.
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.