ScreenStrong Families

Today we welcome Dr. Adriana Stacey,  a Board Certified Psychiatrist to discuss screen ADHD in kids and the destructive nature of smartphones on children's brain.Dr. Stacey's areas of specialty include female mental health treatment, including treatment of depression, anxiety, adult ADHD, insomnia, and sports psychiatry. Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

After the heinous elementary school massacre in Uvalde, TX last week, ScreenStrong invited Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a West Point Psychology Professor and author of Assassination Generation, to discuss the link between video game addiction and school violence that few are talking about. This is a heartbreaking but absolutely necessary episode to check out.Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

Today Melanie welcomes Becky Grant, an elementary school teacher of 11 years, a ScreenStrong Ambassador, and mom of two boys. Becky shares her family’s story with us, which she acknowledges is likely very similar to many other families’ stories of navigating a screen-saturated culture. She offers her story with the wish to provide hope, encouragement, and support for other families having doubts about being able to become ScreenStrong. Join us as she shares the growth she has noticed in her boys and how she is building community within her neighborhood to focus on in-person connections from group play at the park to impromptu dog walks with friends. There are so many tips in this episode that you can recreate in your home and neighborhood, and Becky’s story is one you’ll listen to again to be re-inspired as you progress on your own journey!Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

Melanie is joined once again by Dr. Leonard Sax, an American psychologist, and a practicing family physician. Dr. Sax has spoken on child and adolescent development issues in schools and communities worldwide since 2001. He is the author of numerous books and publications, including The Collapse of Parenting, one of ScreenStrong’s most recommended books.Did you know that TikTok is the #1 most visited website in the U.S. and Worldwide today? One billion TikTok videos are viewed daily, and its popularity has spread with astonishing speed affecting all that engage with it. Melanie and Dr. Sax take a deep dive to deconstruct TikTok’s algorithm and its harmful impact and suggestibility on young people. From social pressure to self-harm, Dr. Sax expands on the dark side of social media’s influence on our children’s development. He also dives into the parental trap of “just wanting to make our children happy” and how we need to shift and strengthen our parenting intentions to help our children fulfill their potential.This is an episode that you may want to use to start a small discussion group among a few friends to encourage and cultivate support in your parenting journey.Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

In this episode, Melanie is joined by our Brand Manager, Anna Wight to give a lesson-by-lesson preview of our new Kids’ Brains & Screens and ScreenStrong Solution Courses. This content deep-dive will give you an idea of what to expect in these courses and encourage you to take the step towards becoming a ScreenStrong Family.Kids’ Brains & Screens CourseLesson 1: Building Healthy BrainsLesson 2: The Teenage BrainLesson 3: Brains & ScreensLesson 4: Smartphones & Social MediaLesson 5: Video GamesLesson 6: The Dark Side of ScreensLesson 7: Screens In SchoolLesson 8: The Teen Mental Health Crisis The ScreenStrong Solution CourseLesson 1: Lead Like a CoachLesson 2: Prepare for ChangeLesson 3: Share the NewsLesson 4: Understand Screen HabitsLesson 5: Remove the ScreensLesson 6: Reset Your HomeLesson 7: Retrain Life SkillsLesson 8: Restore Interests & HobbiesLesson 9: Reconnect Your FamilySupport the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

We’ve made it to 100 EPISODES!!! Thank you all for listening and supporting us. We couldn’t do this without your community support.Today Melanie is joined by Ellen Cotton, a longtime friend of ScreenStrong and living the ScreenStrong Lifestyle. She and Melanie present 100 unique tips to help you on your ScreenStrong journey and share personal stories about the ups and downs of reclaiming your kids from the virtual world. This episode is full of laughter, joy, and advice from parents who have been where you are now. It’s definitely one you won’t want to miss!Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

Today Melanie welcomes Laura Wurzburger, a ScreenStrong Ambassador, and a mom of two adopted children from China. Laura shares her inspiring and vulnerable story of her family's journey to enrich their lifestyle by changing technology use in their home. She shares and acknowledges the mistakes and unhealthy habits she and her husband created in raising their children and what they learned while going through this process of reducing unhealthy and toxic screen use in their life. Laura credits having a healthy attachment with her children, being fully aware of her parenting goals, and not giving into fear that the cultural myths try to influence her parenting. She encourages families with tips and advice for connecting with their kids during detox and to have the strength to “go hard” and make the changes “with your arms outstretched to your child.”This episode is one that you will want to share, save, and listen to again as it encourages your family in making changes to become a ScreenStrong Family.Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

Today Melanie welcomes Ben O'Sullivan, a new ScreenStrong Ambassador based in Australia.  Ben has worked in education as a teacher's aide for over 5 years now and is soon to be expanding his role as a school chaplain. He has also worked with youths in church groups and is presently working on a bachelor's degree in counseling. Ben shares his perspective on the changes influenced by the current technology use by youths in his work and community. He shares how his work as a teacher's aide pushed him into advocacy with a focus on prevention of exposure of traumatic content in children. Ben pinpoints the "dark triad" of traumatic content that is deeply impactful to children's well-being. He discusses how the content children consume can affect their behavior, their psyche, and well-being. Ben introduces three solutions that he is concentrating on to help parents and children. He is also creating a community-based support website called ScreenSmiles with the goal to provide education and resources to his local communities in Australia.Join us as Ben inspires us with his stories and his dedication to improving the lives and development of children being raised in this technology culture.RESOURCES:ScreenSmiles WebsiteFollow on Instagram @screensmiles Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

Join us in today's episode where Melanie unpacks the myth of the forbidden fruit. This myth is based on the theory that if you limit an activity that your children desperately want, they will long for it even more, it will make it more appealing, and they will binge on technology when they are older and/or in college. Melanie emphasizes that ScreenStrong is not about supporting the removal of screens from a family's life as that is just not possible in the day and age that we live in. She points out the brain science that debunks the myth of the forbidden fruit, such as the concept of neuronal pruning and pathways, the developmental areas of the brain in adolescence, and how dopamine plays a role during the teenage years. ScreenStrong is about increasing awareness of toxic screen use in our daily lives, education on how toxic screen use negatively impacts our children's development and supporting family values of connection and community when raising our children. This episode is short, sweet, and full of ScreenStrong inspiration!Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin

Join us today as Melanie welcomes Zachary Church, a High School Varsity Swim Coach and an Assistant Coach for a Cross Country Track and Field Program. His main purpose in coaching is to “make a positive impact on individual lives, especially teenagers.”Zach shares with us his unique perspective on the impact of screen use by teenagers in his role as a coach at his High School and in the community. Zach talks about the important life skills that can be developed through a teenager’s involvement in sports. He also shares the obstacles toxic screen use can have on a student athlete’s sports performance and team experience. Additionally, Melanie and Zach discuss how the influence of social media has robbed the attention of parents and kids alike and how it has changed the family-centered attachment to a generational gap of disconnection. Support the showDon't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review if you enjoy the episode. Your feedback helps us bring you more of the content you love. Stay Strong! Get your copy of the BRAND NEW Adventures of Super Brain book! Start your ScreenStrong Journey today! Check out our Kids' Brains & Screens products. Want to help spread the ScreenStrong message to your community? Consider becoming a ScreenStrong Ambassador! ScreenStrong Tech Recommendations Canopy—Device Filter (use code STRONG for discount) Production Team: Host: Melanie Hempe Producer & Audio Editor: Olivia Kernekin