Many influencers have been calling on technology companies to redesign their products to make them easier for parents to parent around. Industry insiders are finally publicly requesting that tech companies make changes to the addictive nature of their products. Another positive trend is that many celebrities are promoting breaks from social media.
Parents, teachers, and principals all over the world who I talk to are desperately seeking solutions to the hourly battles with their youth about screen time. Let’s share with these young people how the folks who create technology, and the celebrities who thrive off it, are rethinking its effects. Here are some examples:
Salesforce (company that creates software to manage sales) CEO Marc Benioff said on CNBC’s Squawk Alley, "I think that you do it exactly the same way that you regulated the cigarette industry. Here's a product: Cigarettes. They're addictive, they're not good for you. I think that for sure, technology has addictive qualities that we have to address, and that product designers are working to make those products more addictive and we need to rein that back."
In 2015, singer Ed Sheeran publicly said, "I’m going to travel the world and see everything I missed" after spending the last five years taking life in "through a screen." In 2017, he re-emerged and told E! News, "I feel like life is all about balance, and my life wasn't balanced. Taking it all off the scale balanced it, oddly enough."
In 2016, Selena Gomez took a 3-month phone break. "I recently took 90 days off. During that time I did not have my cell phone," she told Thrive Global. "It was the most refreshing, calming, rejuvenating feeling. Now I rarely pick up my phone, and only limited people have access to me."
That same year, Julia Roberts revealed to InStyle, “Everyone has Instagram on their phone. And I just, yeah, [if I had it] I would be looking at it all the time.”
In 2017, Emily Watson spoke to CNN, “Social media takes so much of our attention. It’s so important to keep an eye on what your daily diet is. In the same way, we think about what we eat, we should think about what we read, what we’re seeing, what we’re engaging and what we’re interacting with every day.”
Barry Rosenstein, the managing partner of JANA, one of the biggest investors in Apple, signed an open letter to Apple asking them to add features that would make their phones less addictive, especially for children. As reported by CNBC, Rosenstein wants Apple "to build software that would give parents more options to limit children's phone use, pointing out that the iPhone maker's reputation and stock could be hurt if this issue remains unchecked.”
This week Apple released a landing page on their website that gives tips to parents on managing their children’s screen use, purchasing habits, and tracking. Apple has not created, nor publicly disclosed, that they will make software that will help parents gain control of time spent.
Tristan Harris, a former employee at Google, and Aza Raskin, who headed user experience at Mozilla, just founded the Center for Humane Technology. The center’s mission is to pressure companies like Apple and Microsoft to “redesign their devices and core interfaces to protect our minds from constant distractions, minimize screen time, protect our time in relationships, and replace the App Store marketplace of apps competing for usage with a marketplace of tools competing to benefit our lives and society.”
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Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Learn more about showing our movies in your school or community!
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
Learn more about our Screen-Free Sleep campaign at the website!
Our movie made for parents and educators of younger kids
Join Screenagers filmmaker Delaney Ruston MD for our latest Podcast
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Many influencers have been calling on technology companies to redesign their products to make them easier for parents to parent around. Industry insiders are finally publicly requesting that tech companies make changes to the addictive nature of their products. Another positive trend is that many celebrities are promoting breaks from social media.
Parents, teachers, and principals all over the world who I talk to are desperately seeking solutions to the hourly battles with their youth about screen time. Let’s share with these young people how the folks who create technology, and the celebrities who thrive off it, are rethinking its effects. Here are some examples:
Salesforce (company that creates software to manage sales) CEO Marc Benioff said on CNBC’s Squawk Alley, "I think that you do it exactly the same way that you regulated the cigarette industry. Here's a product: Cigarettes. They're addictive, they're not good for you. I think that for sure, technology has addictive qualities that we have to address, and that product designers are working to make those products more addictive and we need to rein that back."
In 2015, singer Ed Sheeran publicly said, "I’m going to travel the world and see everything I missed" after spending the last five years taking life in "through a screen." In 2017, he re-emerged and told E! News, "I feel like life is all about balance, and my life wasn't balanced. Taking it all off the scale balanced it, oddly enough."
In 2016, Selena Gomez took a 3-month phone break. "I recently took 90 days off. During that time I did not have my cell phone," she told Thrive Global. "It was the most refreshing, calming, rejuvenating feeling. Now I rarely pick up my phone, and only limited people have access to me."
That same year, Julia Roberts revealed to InStyle, “Everyone has Instagram on their phone. And I just, yeah, [if I had it] I would be looking at it all the time.”
In 2017, Emily Watson spoke to CNN, “Social media takes so much of our attention. It’s so important to keep an eye on what your daily diet is. In the same way, we think about what we eat, we should think about what we read, what we’re seeing, what we’re engaging and what we’re interacting with every day.”
Barry Rosenstein, the managing partner of JANA, one of the biggest investors in Apple, signed an open letter to Apple asking them to add features that would make their phones less addictive, especially for children. As reported by CNBC, Rosenstein wants Apple "to build software that would give parents more options to limit children's phone use, pointing out that the iPhone maker's reputation and stock could be hurt if this issue remains unchecked.”
This week Apple released a landing page on their website that gives tips to parents on managing their children’s screen use, purchasing habits, and tracking. Apple has not created, nor publicly disclosed, that they will make software that will help parents gain control of time spent.
Tristan Harris, a former employee at Google, and Aza Raskin, who headed user experience at Mozilla, just founded the Center for Humane Technology. The center’s mission is to pressure companies like Apple and Microsoft to “redesign their devices and core interfaces to protect our minds from constant distractions, minimize screen time, protect our time in relationships, and replace the App Store marketplace of apps competing for usage with a marketplace of tools competing to benefit our lives and society.”
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Many influencers have been calling on technology companies to redesign their products to make them easier for parents to parent around. Industry insiders are finally publicly requesting that tech companies make changes to the addictive nature of their products. Another positive trend is that many celebrities are promoting breaks from social media.
Parents, teachers, and principals all over the world who I talk to are desperately seeking solutions to the hourly battles with their youth about screen time. Let’s share with these young people how the folks who create technology, and the celebrities who thrive off it, are rethinking its effects. Here are some examples:
Salesforce (company that creates software to manage sales) CEO Marc Benioff said on CNBC’s Squawk Alley, "I think that you do it exactly the same way that you regulated the cigarette industry. Here's a product: Cigarettes. They're addictive, they're not good for you. I think that for sure, technology has addictive qualities that we have to address, and that product designers are working to make those products more addictive and we need to rein that back."
In 2015, singer Ed Sheeran publicly said, "I’m going to travel the world and see everything I missed" after spending the last five years taking life in "through a screen." In 2017, he re-emerged and told E! News, "I feel like life is all about balance, and my life wasn't balanced. Taking it all off the scale balanced it, oddly enough."
In 2016, Selena Gomez took a 3-month phone break. "I recently took 90 days off. During that time I did not have my cell phone," she told Thrive Global. "It was the most refreshing, calming, rejuvenating feeling. Now I rarely pick up my phone, and only limited people have access to me."
That same year, Julia Roberts revealed to InStyle, “Everyone has Instagram on their phone. And I just, yeah, [if I had it] I would be looking at it all the time.”
In 2017, Emily Watson spoke to CNN, “Social media takes so much of our attention. It’s so important to keep an eye on what your daily diet is. In the same way, we think about what we eat, we should think about what we read, what we’re seeing, what we’re engaging and what we’re interacting with every day.”
Barry Rosenstein, the managing partner of JANA, one of the biggest investors in Apple, signed an open letter to Apple asking them to add features that would make their phones less addictive, especially for children. As reported by CNBC, Rosenstein wants Apple "to build software that would give parents more options to limit children's phone use, pointing out that the iPhone maker's reputation and stock could be hurt if this issue remains unchecked.”
This week Apple released a landing page on their website that gives tips to parents on managing their children’s screen use, purchasing habits, and tracking. Apple has not created, nor publicly disclosed, that they will make software that will help parents gain control of time spent.
Tristan Harris, a former employee at Google, and Aza Raskin, who headed user experience at Mozilla, just founded the Center for Humane Technology. The center’s mission is to pressure companies like Apple and Microsoft to “redesign their devices and core interfaces to protect our minds from constant distractions, minimize screen time, protect our time in relationships, and replace the App Store marketplace of apps competing for usage with a marketplace of tools competing to benefit our lives and society.”
A new Louis Theroux documentary on Netflix exposes the growing network of online influencers pushing sexism, misogyny, and a narrow vision of masculinity on boys and young men. Combined with last year's hit series Adolescence, it is a wake-up call for parents. The good news: there is a lot we can do. This week, I round up our most relevant blogs and podcast episodes from recent months, covering everything from the "interrupter" technique to boys' mental health, phones in schools, online sports betting, pornography, and the manosphere's exploitation of boys' loneliness. The research is clear that parents who show up with curiosity, honesty, and consistency have more influence than they realize.
READ MORE >
When kids struggle with big emotions, many parents reach for a screen to keep the peace — but this can get in the way of children developing real coping skills. Drawing on research from Dr. Jenny Radesky, this post shares two practical strategies: using the Zones of Regulation color system to help kids name and process their feelings, and doing a toy swap with another parent to build your "vulnerable village" of support. Both approaches turn difficult screen-time moments into opportunities for emotional growth.
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When teens say they hate you, it often feels personal, but it may not truly be about you. Teens sometimes direct their overwhelming feelings toward the safest person in their life. Instead of responding with logic or backing down out of fear, check that your limits are fair, practice self-compassion, and focus on validation rather than correction. If conflict feels stuck, family counseling can help both sides feel heard and understood.
READ MORE >for more like this, DR. DELANEY RUSTON'S NEW BOOK, PARENTING IN THE SCREEN AGE, IS THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE FOR TODAY’S PARENTS. WITH INSIGHTS ON SCREEN TIME FROM RESEARCHERS, INPUT FROM KIDS & TEENS, THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH SOLUTIONS FOR HOW TO START AND SUSTAIN PRODUCTIVE FAMILY TALKS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND IT’S IMPACT ON OUR MENTAL WELLBEING.
