Screenagers Blog

With the holidays coming, you might be thinking about buying your kid a phone. In today's blog, I include some reviews of non-smartphones and some experiences and recommendations from other parents.

There is a long-standing belief that dinner needs to be about checking in with everyone about their day mainly, and then, from there, people can bring up other topics. There is also a myth that this should be satisfying enough for everyone at the table.The truth is some kids and teens get a bit frustrated or bored by dinnertime. Today I propose ways to add some spice to your regular dinner routine by sharing some fun dinner activities.

Today I’m writing about what the Wall Street Journal’s reporting on the Facebook Files tells us about what Facebook and Instagram know about “Likes” and what they are not telling us, and solutions on how we can help our youth with “Likes.”

Time for some book and podcast recommendations — Thanksgiving and winter breaks are coming up, and you might have more time to read. I am sharing some suggestions of books and podcasts I have liked — a few of which are just for parents and others are for tweens and teens.

Today I explore what Discord and Twitch are, some of the risks of the platforms, some ways to mitigate risks, and some ideas for helping your youth make healthy, good decisions when using these.

“I am a parent of two teenage daughters (16 and 14), both in high school. I am frustrated with how the schools encourage social media usage by using it for communication. The softball team communicates through Twitter. Clubs communicate through Instagram. The band uses Snapchat. How do we best encourage (request/demand) the schools to use non-social media platforms for activities, sports, and clubs?... Any advice?”

In 2016 FB (and Instagram) asked me to come to their headquarters and show Screenagers to their adolescent division. I spoke about negative emotions that were happening to young people related to social media and my concerns about excessive use and addiction. Around that same time, Facebook was talking about developing a Facebook-type product for youth younger than 13. Fortunately, there was pushback from the public, and this never came to fruition. Our voices matter. We want to support our kids having a voice in this discussion. This week's Tech Talk Tuesday, gives you ideas about talking with your kids about the leaked papers that revealed that Facebook has been internally talking about how youth can have very negative emotions on social media but find it hard to pull away.

So much is happening this week with Facebook/Instagram. The Facebook/Instagram whistleblower is testifying at this moment before the Senate. Yesterday Facebook, Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp all went down for hours for the first time ever. In a 60 Minutes interview from Sunday, the whistleblower, Frances Haugen, talks about why she decided to go public with internal company documents. This is an incredible learning moment for our kids and there are great timely, relevant ways to engage them in all these topics (that affect them!) which I discuss in this week’s TTT

Let’s mobilize and ramp up our concerted efforts to put limits on tech’s reach into our homes. I have always said, “Our tech revolution warrants a parenting revolution.” Part of the revolution requires that we step out of our comfort zone to speak up.

Many schools around the country are doing a 180-degree shift regarding suicide prevention education — and this is good! It was practically unheard of just five years ago. That said, it is not yet everywhere, and that is why reading this blog and talking with your children is so important.

China has just launched new video gaming restrictions for kids under 18: Kids cannot play video games (on computers or phones) during the week, limiting their video gaming from 8 pm to 9 pm, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and on public holidays, totaling no more than 3 hours per week. Are the rules enforced?

The science is clear: Having phones used less during the school day increases connections and decreases distractions. Students do better socially and emotionally, as shown by research. Now more than ever, it’s time to look at our Away For The Day Campaign, which is full of tools to help bring change to your elementary, middle, or high school.