Books
Richard Freed:
Wired Child: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age
Lori Getz:
The Tech Savvy User’s Guide to the Digital World
Devorah Heitner:
Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World.
Heitner’s website includes the Mentorship Manifesto with tips to help families thrive in the digital age.
Yalda Uhls: Media Moms and Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Based Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age
Online Resources
Commonsensemedia.org is the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. We empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.
Media Glossary (including texting acronyms) from the PBS website’s parent resources.
Online Resources Every Parent Should Know About, from Real Simple, has links to online resources including Common Sense Media, but also Families Managing Media, The Family Online Safety Institute, and yourbrainonporn.org (a science-based website with information and resources about online porn addition), and Raising Digital Natives.
Articles
Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain by Victoria Dunckley M.D. in Psychology Today.
Neuroimaging research shows excessive screen time damages the brain.
How to Protect Your Kids from Cyber Bullying
Suggestions for whose rules to follow when at someone else’s house from kids.gov.
How Technology is Changing the Way Children Think and Focus by Jim Taylor Ph.D. in Psychology Today. Are your children prepared to think and focus for success in 21st century life?
The New York Times has published some excellent articles on these issues:
When Tech Is a Problem Child by Bruce Feiler
Screen Addiction is Taking a Toll on Children by Jane Brody
Hooked on Our Smart Phones by Jane Brody
Rules for Social Media Created by Kids by Devorah Heitner
Your Screen Time Rules or Mine by Sue Shellenbarger, The Wall Street Journal
Worried About Screen Time? Don’t Let Kids Go It Alone by Elissa Nadworny on NPR.org
Watch and Listen
PBS Newshour podcast: The Drug-like Effect of Screen Time on the Teenage Brain. Gy Judy Woodruff with Dr. Delaney Ruston and William Brangham.
The Challenges of Raising a Digital Native A TedX talk by Devorah Heitner, an advocate for using empathy to help young people navigate the social and emotional aspects of our electronic lives as well as the nuts and bolts of learning how to live life online.
YouTube video of author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek appearing on an episode of Inside Quest: On Millenials in the Workplace. Included in the extended video excerpt is a clear explanation of the connection between electronic use and dopamine in the brain.
Screenagers A highly personal account of teens and technology by a physical/film maker; the website also has useful links.
