This week’s TTT is written by my co-producer, Lisa. I’m off on a family adventure for the next few weeks and looking forward to having very limited access to wifi and data.
FROM Lisa Tabb, Co-Producer, Screenagers:
I just got back from a 3-week vacation with Meleah, my 13-year-old highly social daughter. We have been doing the Tech Talk Tuesdays together for the last year, so there’s a lot of talk about screen time … but even so, she is a social teen who likes to “talk” to her friends via Snapchat, Facetime, and Instagram frequently.
A week before we left she said: “Mom, I think I’m going to leave my iPhone at home.” I played it cool and just asked why. She said she needed a break. So, we went old school and turned it back to 2004.
Meleah brought along a Paperwhite Kindle (only books can be downloaded), an iPod nano (no screen, just a music clip-on), a camera (digital, of course) and a flip phone (for those times she wanted a bit of freedom).
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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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This week’s TTT is written by my co-producer, Lisa. I’m off on a family adventure for the next few weeks and looking forward to having very limited access to wifi and data.
FROM Lisa Tabb, Co-Producer, Screenagers:
I just got back from a 3-week vacation with Meleah, my 13-year-old highly social daughter. We have been doing the Tech Talk Tuesdays together for the last year, so there’s a lot of talk about screen time … but even so, she is a social teen who likes to “talk” to her friends via Snapchat, Facetime, and Instagram frequently.
A week before we left she said: “Mom, I think I’m going to leave my iPhone at home.” I played it cool and just asked why. She said she needed a break. So, we went old school and turned it back to 2004.
Meleah brought along a Paperwhite Kindle (only books can be downloaded), an iPod nano (no screen, just a music clip-on), a camera (digital, of course) and a flip phone (for those times she wanted a bit of freedom).
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This week’s TTT is written by my co-producer, Lisa. I’m off on a family adventure for the next few weeks and looking forward to having very limited access to wifi and data.
FROM Lisa Tabb, Co-Producer, Screenagers:
I just got back from a 3-week vacation with Meleah, my 13-year-old highly social daughter. We have been doing the Tech Talk Tuesdays together for the last year, so there’s a lot of talk about screen time … but even so, she is a social teen who likes to “talk” to her friends via Snapchat, Facetime, and Instagram frequently.
A week before we left she said: “Mom, I think I’m going to leave my iPhone at home.” I played it cool and just asked why. She said she needed a break. So, we went old school and turned it back to 2004.
Meleah brought along a Paperwhite Kindle (only books can be downloaded), an iPod nano (no screen, just a music clip-on), a camera (digital, of course) and a flip phone (for those times she wanted a bit of freedom).
When kids break a rule, most parents default to handing down a consequence. But research on autonomy-supportive parenting shows that inviting kids to help decide the consequence leads to deeper learning, stronger accountability, and even kinder behavior toward others. Younger kids tend to overpunish themselves while teens often go easy, and both create natural openings for parents to guide the conversation. The goal isn't softer consequences. It's consequences that actually teach.
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Kids with ADHD benefit most when parents provide support at the exact moment behavior happens, a science-backed approach called "point of performance." Abruptly shifting from high-stimulation screen time to demanding tasks creates a "dopamine cliff," a brain chemistry drop that often shows up as resistance and conflict. Understanding both concepts helps parents smooth those transitions and build real skills and confidence in their kids over time.
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A new Louis Theroux documentary on Netflix exposes the growing network of online influencers pushing sexism, misogyny, and a narrow vision of masculinity on boys and young men. Combined with last year's hit series Adolescence, it is a wake-up call for parents. The good news: there is a lot we can do. This week, I round up our most relevant blogs and podcast episodes from recent months, covering everything from the "interrupter" technique to boys' mental health, phones in schools, online sports betting, pornography, and the manosphere's exploitation of boys' loneliness. The research is clear that parents who show up with curiosity, honesty, and consistency have more influence than they realize.
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.
