Photo credit: Shutterstock.com Not too many years ago parents who came to our workshops asked if screen time could make their kids stressed, anxious and depressed. Intuitively, parents knew that screen time used for entertainment, not just screen overuse, had the power to hurt their kids. Today we have the studies to prove that the…
When teachers put devices in the hands of kids and expect them to be productive, they’re expecting too much. Teaching kids with technology is analogous to having an AA meeting in a bar. —Matt Miles, ScreenStrong Ambassador, author, and high school teacher (1) Do you ever check your personal email or social media at work?…
By Dawn Poulterer-Woods, ScreenStrong Ambassador Years ago, before the iPhone was clutched in every human hand, I posed a question to our 300 plus high school students. After years of working in a high school as a teacher and counselor, I noticed some changes in our culture that were causing me pause. I figured it would…
Middle School Misfortunes Then and Now, One Teacher’s Take: Let’s imagine a seventh grader. He’s a quiet kid, polite, with a few friends. Just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill twelve-year-old. We’ll call him Brian. Brian’s halfway through seventh grade and for the first time, he’s starting to wonder where he falls in the social hierarchy at school.…
“Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.” —Uncle Ben, Spider-Man (2002) You’re starting high school and we’re so excited for your new adventure! We know you’ll have a wonderful time with your old friends and make many new ones. But you may also have some struggles. We won’t sugarcoat our advice and tell you everything…
Photo: Halo, Dead Rising 3, Call of Duty: WWII, Fortnite We all know of [the] problems that video games can [cause]. And we haven’t done anything about it. Because it was [another] family, not mine. But unless we start to learn from some of these societal mistakes, we are going to repeat them. — …
Sometimes in the of act of giving our kids smartphones, we need to step back and take a broader view of what that smartphone is replacing in real life. The following story by Benjamin Conlon paints a perfect picture of the benefits of allowing simple, everyday events to build maturity in our kids’ lives. …
Are you happy with the amount of time your child spends on a screen? Are you pleased with how your son spends his summer break on the couch, in the air conditioning, racking up more kills in Fortnite? Are you okay with how much time your daughter spends scrolling through a world that you don’t…
Has your child ever thrown a controller when playing a video game? Has he ever hit a sibling because of his gaming frustration? Do you fear what your child will do if you tell him to turn off the game? You’re not alone. Games are not a neutral activity. They stimulate the release of neurochemicals,…
Wondering if your kids should be on social media? Let’s start by examining what social media was designed for: marketing, entertainment and to keep our attention (i.e.be addictive). One thing it wasn’t created for? Kids. As more and more kids and teens use social media for longer periods of time, we are seeing the negative…