Parenting in the Screen Age - The Screenagers Podcast

Youth will have more time to breathe and explore their interests beyond school, but so often, downtime becomes screen time. Summer's wide open time spans can heighten battles over technology use. This is the perfect time to revisit your family rules, see what's working and what's not, and come up with summer guidelines.  

In today's episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston talks with an 11-year-old girl, Mira, regarding what she likes about the popular gaming platform Roblox and the video game Minecraft. Mira also shares experiences she's had with strangers while gaming. Mira discusses specific encounters and how she has handled such situations. Mira's mom joins for part of the episode. If you have ki...

As teens head back to school with even more emotional challenges than ever before due to the pandemic, providing them tools to address such challenges is crucial. Studies show that Social and Emotional Learning, called SEL, can help improve emotional well-being, academics, and more. In this episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston talks with Jordan Posamentier, Director of Policy and...

In today's episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston talks with two mothers who have been working to have specific family times with less screen interference. First is a mom of four and her experience of doing screen-free family Sundays. Learn about the upsides and the  challenges . The other is a mom in Alaska who has prioritized reading with her kids and how they keep screens at bay...

We've all heard the importance of parents showing a united front to their kids about rules. It's a good thing to be united, but what about when you're not? In this episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston looks at strategies parents can turn to when in disagreement — whether married or divorced. We gain insights from clinical psychologist Laura Kastner, Ph. D., and school counselor T...

We are doing episodes on ways families experiment with having specific times for more togetherness and less screen interference. Today's episode of The Screenagers Podcast is with Tiffany Shlain and her daughter, Odessa. Tiffany is the founder of the Webby Awards, a filmmaker, and the author of the book 24/6. The podcast explores her family's weekly ritual of unplugging Friday night to Saturday ev...

When it comes to cyberbullying, what's fact and what's fiction? What do all kids need to know about how to handle online cruelty and how to help those getting targeted? And what can parents and schools do to be most helpful? On this episode of The Screenagers Project, Dr. Delaney Ruston speaks with psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Englander, who has spent decades researching and writing books on these t...

This spring, as vaccination rates increase, more schools are opening their campuses for in-person learning. At the same time, anxiety about returning to school is high for many youth.  How do we help our kids and teens who are experiencing anxious feelings related to school? To address this topic on The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston speaks with a high school student and two child psychol...

Frustrated with his obsession with video gaming, Cam Adair wrote a post about his struggles that went viral. This led to his starting a movement that has brought together thousands to work to create a balanced life at Gamequitters.com. Cam is an international speaker who shares his story about gaming addiction and offers advice to youth and their parents. In today's episode of The Screenagers Podc...

Everyone knows that many young people play video games based on violent themes, and that shows have far more violence than when adults were kids. When COVID hit, many parents started to allow their kids to play games that they wouldn't have before COVID just because it has been such a source of connection and whatnot.  In today's episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston wants to unde...

These days Dr. Delaney Ruston hears parents' concerns around all the video gaming their kids are doing — as well as social media and other screen time.  Some are worried about the risks of developing an addiction to technology. in today's episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Ruston talks with Ed Spector,  Psy. D., a psychologist who has specialized in working with young people who have been str...

False information about vaccines has been around before social media, but now it can spread that much faster. The results have been deadly. We all want safe and effective vaccines against COVID.  In today' episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston breaks down some of the false information around vaccines, explores amazing vaccine history, and relates this all to COVID. We also hear fr...

Now more than ever, it is crucial to have the ability to spot disinformation on the internet. How skillful are our kids at spotting disinformation? In this episode of The Screenagers Podcast, we meet the director of the Stanford History Education Group, Joel Breakstone, PhD, who has r esearched this topic — and it is not pretty. His team has analyzed how college students, historians, and fact-chec...

With back to school starting, and with all the online and offline stressors our kids are facing, The Screenagers Podcast is about improving their well-being by focusing on healthy sleep. Have your kids and teens listen to this show with you! Hear fascinating insights from Dr. Judy Owens, the Director of Sleep Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, and a neurology professor at Harvard Medical Scho...

Arguments in the home about screen time are common and more so when school is in session, so what to do? What is a parenting strategy that can promote healthy screen use, and other positive behaviors, while at the same time decrease fighting? In this episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston talks with one of her favorite parenting experts, Dr. Tammy Fisher Huson, about a strategy has...

 It is a brand new world where regular people of all ages can become stars on the internet overnight. But how do young influencers become brand marketers? Is it different for female and male influencers? Kids and teens feel connected and trust YouTubers they follow, but are they aware they are being marketed to? And how is this type of marketing affecting our kids' self-esteem? Today's episode of...

Time on TikTok has been skyrocketing. Why is it attracting such huge numbers of teens? What positives can happen on the app, and what are some of the risks? The sheer amount of time it consumes is what most young people say is TikTok's biggest downside. On today's episdoe of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston speaks with two teenagers, Marie and Manisha, who answer these questions and oth...

Why do some kids and teens get overly frustrated and bored when it's time to turn off their video games? How to know when game playing has become excessive? What are tips that all families should know for ensuring healthy video game play? In today's episode of The Screenagers Podcast, Dr. Delaney Ruston explores these issues along with a new model of brain biology to help explain irritability and...