Healthy Screen Habits Podcast

Meet Cody and Malia Westheimer, the father-daughter duo behind SuperPod Kids!  Looking for a fun way to dial down screen time and spark your child's imagination? SuperPod Kids is a delightful storytelling podcast for little listeners that blends exciting ocean adventures, fascinating orca facts, and gentle social-emotional lessons.  We talk all about these things and more in this episode Listen no...

You may recognize her voice from the Healthy Screen Habits Handbook and website ads, but today, she's stepping out from behind the scenes and into the guest seat!  Jeannie Ondelacy Sprague is a digital wellness educator, writer, advocate, mom of four, COO of Healthy Screen Habits, and one of our founding members. She's passionate about how technology shapes the way our kids learn, grow, and connec...

As the newly released documentary Your Attention Please shines a spotlight on the impact of social media and online harm, we're revisiting a powerful conversation on the Healthy Screen Habits Podcast with Kristin Bride, mom to Carson Bride, and a tireless advocate for online safety. Listen now!  

Dr. John S. Hutton  is a pioneer in the realm of brain development. His research showed the results of screen overuse in the brains of young children: disorganized white matter. This is concerning for a variety of reasons. Today we discuss the best ways to start healthy brain growth and development with babies and toddlers….hint….it's easier than you think ..and it doesn't involve screens.  Listen...

Chloe Parsons Cohn is the 13-year-old host of Digital Childhood. She created this podcast to explore how technology affects the way we grow, learn, connect, and how to become the best versions of ourselves—with technology and without it. This week, Healthy Screen Habits joins Digital Childhood for a special co-release that brings BOTH sides of the screen-time conversation to the table. 🙌 Listen n...

Screen time strategist, mom of three, former math teacher, and author Ruby Ryba shares a refreshingly guilt-free approach to healthier screen habits in her book: How to Stop Scrolling.  Ruby understands the importance of being kind to yourself while realizing that every day looks different. Sometimes the goal isn't to use your phone perfectly… it's to have more choice about where your attention go...

Scammers are getting smarter—and unfortunately, our older loved ones are increasingly being targeted online. Chad Rychlewski and Kae David, the duo behind Cybersecurity Parents LLC, wrote the new book Cyber-Smart Caregiving: Protecting Your Parents in the Digital Age—a practical guide to helping older generations stay safer from online scams and digital threats. Learn which scams to watch for, how...

In this episode, we're talking about digital wellness and Sociallite, an app designed by 2 Gen Zers, to help families take back control of their digital lives. Sociallite can help you set healthy boundaries around social media, reduce distractions, create screen-free time, and make technology habits more intentional—without relying on nagging or willpower. We have a thoughtful conversation about t...

Summer and technology are 2 things that typically create a perfect quagmire for a digital slippery slope. Not this year!! Listen to one of our favorite moms on this episode to get tips for summer music and healthy screen habit success.  Listen wherever you get your podcasts and visit the show notes on our website to gain access to this valuable resource!  

Brain rot, TikTok, and shrinking attention spans are making headlines in the media as we try to figure out the best path forward in education.  Sarah Shepherd dedicated her PhD work to studying the long-term effects of overstimulation on developing brains.   Learn about new study techniques Gen Z is employing to help them focus, as well as how economic disparity is contributing to the digital divi...

Trigger Warning: This episode isn't easy—but it's essential. What do screen habits have to do with real-world harm? More than we want to admit. In this powerful conversation, we sit down with the CEO of Safenest to unpack the uncomfortable truth: what kids see online can shape what they believe is normal offline. From early exposure to explicit content… to the rise of the manosphere… to the quiet...

Screentime and ADHD brains have their own challenges.  ADHD brains have different strengths and weaknesses - technology can exploit them.  In this episode, Learn how digital use affects the ADHD brain and how to set up some successful parameters with expert Adela Baker, PCC, PCAC.   

There's a new app for teens and families that picks up where "blocking apps" stop. Dayo (the app) does not proclaim to be the answer to a parenting solution to mental health problems. Dayo is about getting screen time down by using a proven technique to do it. From there, you can parent and decide how to invest time offline -  go bike riding, go on hikes, or play family games together! Listen to t...

Talmage Erickson is an author, speaker, and digital wellness expert. Having survived high school with a flip phone, he learned what it meant to live beyond the screen.  As one of the Screen Guys, Talmage believes in creating intentional balance.  This week, we talked about relating to teens in meaningful ways that will help drive connection and make talking about boundaries surrounding technology...

Happy week of the Young Child! The week of the Young Child is an annual week-long celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (AKA: NAEYC). The purpose of this week is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families, and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. The book I'd like to honor and...

Dawn Wible and Julianna Arnold are co-chairs of the Online Harms Prevention workgroup at Fairplay.  Fairplay for Kids is the nation's leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. The online harms prevention work group believes children and young people deserve t...

Julianna Arnold is Coco's mom. Coco is forever 17, having been killed by a fentanyl overdose given to her from someone she trusted online.  On this episode, learn how social media companies are finally being tried for addictive product design and how parents of kids who have suffered from online harms are staying strong.  

Just as you wouldn't let a new driver take the wheel of a car without proper training, using smartphones requires instruction. Healthy Screen Habits now has a workbook designed for tweens and teens to help them navigate the rules of the road for smartphone use.  Healthy Screen Habits Workbook for Tweens and Teens is what we, the founding members of Healthy Screen Habits, wish we had when our oldes...

Eli Singer is the author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance and the founder of Offline.now, a global platform and community for digital balance.  Offline. now's mission is to help people build a calmer, more intentional relationship with technology, using practical, compassionate tools and a supportive community so they can use screens purposefully and focus on what matte...

In 2020, during the COVID shutdown, Frank Possemato found himself to be a new dad and an online professor.  He had time to reflect on the life he wanted for his daughter, as well as take note of the changing world while it moved increasingly online. Inspired by life as he knew it before the digital revolution, he purchased a notebook (with actual coins) and started writing about the importance of...

Dr. Sajita Setia is a researcher and global digital wellbeing expert in New Zealand. Her work connects the dots between screen habits, sleep, mood, and the rising mental health crisis in kids. In this episode we talk about:  Why "good screen time" can still cause problems. How screens quietly affect sleep and self-esteem A simple game kids actually buy into: name it, move it, time it How families...

Kellyn Smythe is an expert at helping youth transition from living on devices to connecting with the physical world. Since 2014, he has worked at Pacific Quest, a fully licensed and accredited residential mental healthcare establishment on the island of Hawaii. In this episode we talk about layers of mental health care and what to expect with a digital detox.  Listen now!

What's a VPN?  What does it do? Cybersmart Parenting Protecting Your Child in the Digital Age is a digital safety handbook designed to help parents figure out questions like thes. It's written specifically for busy parents. (Parents like us!) In this episode I talk about online security and safety with the authors of this handbook Chad Rychlewski and Kae David.  It's packed with information on how...

An introduction to Season 15's theme "From First Screens to Crisis Moments". Also, a reminder to check out our Episodes by Topic menu on the Healthy Screen Habits website.  We encourage you to access this free resource whenever needed.  A library of experts awaits!

Healthy Screen Habits takes a break every year during the holiday season to relax, slow down, and enjoy our own families.  Please do the same with yours!  On this episode, get ideas for how to have tech-safe and tech-free fun.