Parenting in the Screen Age: A Guide for Calm Conversations

Does every conversation with your child or teen about screen time blow up into a fight? Or maybe you avoid bringing up the topic but silently harbor worry and frustration. How can you better understand what you’re up against — and most importantly, ensure the healthiest screen time possible? In Parenting in the Screen Age, award-winning filmmaker, and mental health advocate Dr. Delaney Ruston distills more than a decade of communications research into a definitive guide for today’s parents. Packed with evidence-based insights on screen time from researchers, input from kids and teens, and solutions drawn from Dr. Ruston’s own messy parenting struggles, this guide shows you how to start — and sustain — productive family talks about technology. You’ll learn how to: Bring up screen time without making your child or teen defensive; Talk through difficult issues like online social cruelty, sexting, and mental health; Engage your child in creating boundaries around Netflix, video gaming, and social media; Have screen time limits that actually work — with less of the sneaking or arguing. During the COVID pandemic or after, this book will help you lead your child to become more tech-wise and life balanced — empowering them to build a healthier relationship with our digital world, now and into their future.