When I was a kid, screen and phone time existed, and kids and parents had conflicts over them. We played games, got our entertainment, gossiped with friends, and relied on technology and devices to do it. So how different was it?
Back then I met friends at the video game arcade down on Durant in Berkeley. For a home movie night, we could meet up at the local video rental store and browse the choices together. Parents would run into other parents and get movie recommendations from the people they knew. At home, only one person could be on the phone at a time. Some families had a favorite T.V. show that aired once a week on one of the four tv networks, and the whole family would gather at that same night every week to be together to watch it. To do research for a school project, I would go to the local library.
At my house today we can each watch our own YouTube video, indie film or Hollywood blockbuster on our own personal screen whenever we feel like it. My daughter can FaceTime with my Screenager producer’s daughter to catch up long-distance. We moved from Seattle all the way to NY and everyone in my family can have conversations with anyone “back home” easily. Research for school or work can happen regardless of library hours.
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
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When I was a kid, screen and phone time existed, and kids and parents had conflicts over them. We played games, got our entertainment, gossiped with friends, and relied on technology and devices to do it. So how different was it?
Back then I met friends at the video game arcade down on Durant in Berkeley. For a home movie night, we could meet up at the local video rental store and browse the choices together. Parents would run into other parents and get movie recommendations from the people they knew. At home, only one person could be on the phone at a time. Some families had a favorite T.V. show that aired once a week on one of the four tv networks, and the whole family would gather at that same night every week to be together to watch it. To do research for a school project, I would go to the local library.
At my house today we can each watch our own YouTube video, indie film or Hollywood blockbuster on our own personal screen whenever we feel like it. My daughter can FaceTime with my Screenager producer’s daughter to catch up long-distance. We moved from Seattle all the way to NY and everyone in my family can have conversations with anyone “back home” easily. Research for school or work can happen regardless of library hours.
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When I was a kid, screen and phone time existed, and kids and parents had conflicts over them. We played games, got our entertainment, gossiped with friends, and relied on technology and devices to do it. So how different was it?
Back then I met friends at the video game arcade down on Durant in Berkeley. For a home movie night, we could meet up at the local video rental store and browse the choices together. Parents would run into other parents and get movie recommendations from the people they knew. At home, only one person could be on the phone at a time. Some families had a favorite T.V. show that aired once a week on one of the four tv networks, and the whole family would gather at that same night every week to be together to watch it. To do research for a school project, I would go to the local library.
At my house today we can each watch our own YouTube video, indie film or Hollywood blockbuster on our own personal screen whenever we feel like it. My daughter can FaceTime with my Screenager producer’s daughter to catch up long-distance. We moved from Seattle all the way to NY and everyone in my family can have conversations with anyone “back home” easily. Research for school or work can happen regardless of library hours.
Thoughtful family tech rules help protect kids’ wellbeing, learning, and sleep while strengthening connection at home. Using the fresh start of a new year, this post shares eight practical tech habits families can discuss and adapt together, including shared social media check-ins, screen time inventories, device-free meals, regular gaming breaks, and keeping phones out of bedrooms at night.
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Psychologist Jean Twenge explains how parental controls can support healthier tech use by protecting sleep, limiting late night device access, and reducing kids’ exposure to content they are not developmentally ready to handle. She discusses why third party parental control tools are often more effective and easier to use than built in options, while acknowledging that no system is perfect. Clear boundaries, combined with technology based limits, can reduce ongoing conflict and make screen time rules easier to enforce.
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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.
