We are familiar with the checklists that help us spot when things are going wrong when it comes to screen time. Our eyes quickly scan the list, hoping that the symptoms or behaviors won’t resonate. We are eager for a sigh of relief: “Maybe I have less to worry about than I thought I did.”… Read More →
We’ve all seen the chilling public service announcements. A girl is messaging someone online and the conversation appears to be taking place between friends. The person asks for a photo and promises support and care in return. Then the screen splits, revealing that it’s actually an older man on the other end. These dramatic “reveals”… Read More →
“Your phone is blowing up!” a friend noticed during a walk together. “Everything okay?” I laughed and showed her the avalanche of cow, sunglass-smiley-face, and poop emojis pouring down my phone screen. “Ah. New smartwatch?” she asked. “Yup,” I responded. A persistent string of nonsensical emojis is typical for a pre-teen exploring what’s possible on… Read More →
We humans love stories. We love telling them and listening to them. Stories are how we communicate who we are and who we want to be. One of the best parts of parenting is curling up with kids to read a good story. But stories don’t always start with “once upon a time.” We create… Read More →
“Have you noticed all these sports betting ads this year?” I asked my family as we waited for the Super Bowl halftime show. “That means a lot of people are losing a lot of money.” “Yeah,” my teenager replied. “But someone else is winning a lot of money…” I took in a sharp breath, resisting… Read More →
I am the kind of person who organizes my life around traditions. There is a joke in our community that once we do something once, we put it on the calendar in perpetuity. These traditions and rituals shift and change over time, but they still function as the glue that holds us together. I gathered… Read More →
Caregivers are inundated with guidance about screen time. Some of it helps families find firm footing; much of it is conflicting, oversimplified, or untethered from the latest developmental science. It’s no wonder parents feel tired and eager for clarity. On our most exhausted days, we just want someone to tell us what to do. At… Read More →
“How is that allowed?” my middle schooler asked me recently. My son had just learned that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot and image generator, Grok, was being used within X to “undress” existing images of people online. We had already talked about nudify and “undressing” apps (add this to the growing list of awkward but essential… Read More →
“I am just so tired. It feels like a full-time job,” a parent shared with me recently, describing the constant work of managing parental controls and online risks. “Yeah,” I replied. “You aren’t alone. Most of these platforms aren’t designed with our kids’ wellbeing in mind, and we’ve largely outsourced responsibility to parents and kids.… Read More →
When I’m leading workshops with parents about adolescence, I often invite them to travel back to their own teenage years. I’m not asking for a perfectly accurate replay of events. Instead, I ask for memories of what it felt like to be on that rocky, turbulent, exhilarating road from childhood to adulthood. Together, we fill… Read More →
