“That’s probably just AI,” my youngest said, pointing at an image that looked a little too perfect to be real. “How can you tell?” I responded. “It just seems like it,” he shrugged. On one hand, this skepticism is an asset in a digital world where the line between human- and AI-generated content continues to… Read More →
Summer arrives, and it’s easy to get caught up in planning—camps, childcare, screen time limits, and all the logistics that come with the shift. I approach this season with mixed feelings: part of me craves the slower pace and open-ended days; another part already anticipates the chaos of too much unstructured time. For many families,… Read More →
I remember watching the 2013 movie Her, where a man named Theo develops a relationship with an artificial intelligence operating system, and feeling two contradictory things at once: incredulous (“This could never really happen”) and uneasy (“This seems like it really could happen”). Fast forward twelve years, and my second impulse was right. We’re closer than ever… Read More →
There are moments when I look at my phone and think, “What a time to be alive!” The device in my hand is one thousand times faster than the last generation’s supercomputers. Our lives benefit from this small device’s connection, information, and efficiency. There are other moments when I long to slow down all that… Read More →
Mark Zuckerberg turned toward a group of grieving parents this week and issued a public apology. “I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through,” he said. “No one should go through what you and your families have suffered.” This latest admission at the Senate online child safety hearing was not the first time that Zuckerberg has… Read More →
While unpacking some holiday decorations I found a wish list that my kids had put together years ago. It was heartwarming and included items like “a live owl,” legos, books, and “surprise me.” While the live owl request required some conversation about animal safety, overall the lists were short, sweet, and offline. What grounded children! … Read More →
“I feel like I am back to my peak pandemic habits all over again,” a friend recently shared. He went on, “I am checking my phone all the time.” “That makes sense,” I responded with a sigh. “There is so much going on.” “The problem is that I feel like I need to be online… Read More →
“How are you feeling about going back to school?” I asked my youngest over breakfast. “I’m excited!” he responded quickly. I was grateful for the enthusiasm but realized that there might be more to the story. Sure enough, the same child was on the verge of emotional collapse five minutes later. He was beside himself… Read More →
“I am just going to delay as long as I can,” a parent recently shared with me. She added, “I just don’t even want to deal with social media until high school.” “Yes, I can relate,” I replied thinking of my own middle schooler at home and my intermittent impulses to move deep into the… Read More →
To say that there is a lot of attention right now on teenage social media use is an understatement. Yet all of the attention hasn’t necessarily produced a clear and coherent path for parents. Instead, we continue to experience significant whiplash between headlines that say, “Screen time is fine!” on one hand, and, “Screen time… Read More →
