ScreenStrong Families

This week, Melanie talks with Candace Collins, a single parent of a 6-year old daughter living a Screen Strong lifestyle. Candace works in Social Media and Digital Marketing and is well aware of the pull that hand held devices have on our daily lives. Candace shares her parenting journey of how she began to notice the toxic effects of screen use and how she made the choice to live counter culturally to provide her daughter a nurturing and connected environment. She offers tips and simple suggestions on how to cultivate connection, creativity, and reduce the use of toxic screens in parenting your young child. This is an episode you have been waiting for and one that you will want to listen to more than once.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 is joined by Joe Clement, a teacher, parent of three, and co-author of Screen Schooled with Matt Miles. Joe is in his 28th year of teaching and brings a unique perspective as he has witnessed the change technology has brought into both the classroom and the home environment. Melanie and Joe discuss the mental health risk factors that are influenced by the toxic use of screens that result in loss of empathy, loss of awareness of facial/social cues, increased stress, and lack of development of essential interpersonal skills for our children. Joe shares how the social and academic culture within the school environment has been negatively influenced by the toxic use of screens resulting in increased distractibility, increased impulsivity to cheat, and decreased educational discussion in the classroom. Lastly, Joe provides encouragement and tips to parents and educators to improve the balance in their use of technology in the home and the classroom.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, guest host, Mandee Hamann interviews Noah Reid, a 17 year old High School student and Competitive Debater and Public Speaker. Noah shares the back story on how he, at the age of 15, wrote a persuasive speech about Age Restricting Social Media. He credits his parents’ continued open communication about Social Media and how their wisdom influenced the development of his speech and his perspectives. Noah encourages parents to talk openly with their teens and for teenagers to question their use of Social Media by asking simply, “How is this benefiting you?” and “What is the purpose [behind your use]?” This is an amazingly insightful interview that is sure to inspire a conversation between you and your teen. 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, guest host, Mandee Hamann, introduces Tom Hayes, who is a nationally recognized comedian, speaker, entrepreneur, writer, and creator of an animation titled Beantown Pals. Tom shares his personal story of being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer at 13-years-old—learning that adversity leads to character development. Mandee and Tom discuss how the evolution of screens in our culture has changed how we parent, and Tom cautions parents that by taking away their child’s pain, it may be at the cost of their child’s character development. He urges families to consider that devices not only rob your child’s brain development, but also robs their emotional connections to the world. He encourages parents to make hard choices and ask themselves what they truly value as well as consider the legacy they are passing onto their family. Tom and Mandee’s conversation is engaging, thought provoking and straightforward—a quick listen that you’ll be glad you tuned in for. 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 by Matt Miles, a teacher and co-author of Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse Is Making Our Kids Dumber. Matt is a passionate educator and advocate for his students. In this interview, he gives a teacher's perspective on virtual learning during the Covid pandemic and the negative outcomes that educators, parents, and students are facing. With his uniquely bold convictions, Matt Miles talks about the counterproductive nature of "ed tech," the social anxiety that screens perpetuate in students, and tips for parents to communicate with educators regarding screen use in the classroom. 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

Our guest today is Emma Lembke, a teenager from Birmingham, Alabama, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of the LOG OFF Movement. The mission of LOG OFF is to seek further dialogue about the multifaceted nature of social media and promote the healthy usage of it. LOG-OFF is passionate about lowering social media’s impact on mental health while teaching teen users and their parents about how to navigate the vast inner-workings of life on social media.Emma shares her experience with social media addiction and the moment she asked herself, “Why does this device have so much control over me?” Emma speaks of her passion to spread digital consciousness to empower teens to become digital advocates for themselves and others. She shares how societal expectations and the myth of hyper-connectivity impact the use of digital media in our young children and teenagers and affect their mental health. Emma describes the LOG OFF Movement’s Digital Challenge for teens that provides a structured plan for implementing social media and screen use reduction with the goal of encouraging teens to explore the world around them and gain insight into their own motivations. 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 today's episode, Mandee Hamann speaks with Doug Smith who is a Screenstrong Ambassador, father of four adult daughters, software developer, and a life-long Bible student. Doug is the author of [Un]Intentional, How Screens Secretly Shape Your Desires And How You Can Break Free. His book provides five practices to purposeful and intentional living with screen use. Doug encourages families to cast a vision of what their life could be without screen dependencies and to create a family mission to help guide their actions and choices intentionally. Mandee and Doug encourage families to be counter-cultural against screen dependency and recognize the negative impact of technology on our children's development. This episode offers profound solutions that would benefit any 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

In today's episode, Melanie has a candid conversation with Ronna Glickman, a retired middle school teacher passionate about educating students, parents, and educational administrators about internet safety and the dangers of social media's influence on children. Due to the pandemic, she is now active in tutoring children who are having difficulty managing the current online education platforms.Melanie and Ronna talk about the culture of disrespect that is prevalent with children in our society today. They discuss the lack of parental authority which contributes to the disrespect children are actively displaying toward authority figures. Melanie and Ronna discuss how children's personalities are changing in relation to their poorly limited screen use. They discuss  parental enabling and social conformity as the traps many parents are falling into. Ronna provides many personal examples from her supportive interaction with families and children having difficulty with emotional dysregulation due to overexposure of screens. This is another fast-paced episode filled with tips, advice, and ideas to become ScreenStrong!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 welcomes Cris Rowan, who is a registered pediatric occupational therapist, certified sensory specialist (SIPT), biologist, author of "Virtual Child", and prolific speaker on the impact of technology on child development and learning. Melanie and Cris start their conversation discussing the 4 Critical Factors needed for the developing child which include movement, touch, human connection, and nature. Cris emphasizes a focus on increased engagement of these factors to create the foundation your child needs for healthy development of their brain and body. Melanie and Cris also unpack her 2017 article Cris wrote for HuffPost, 10 Reasons Why Hand-Held Devices Should Be Banned for Children Under the Age of 12 and how those reasons cited relate to these 4 Critical Factors. This episode is so full of science-based information that supports the reduction of screens and promotes the focus on a daily practice of movement, touch, human connection and nature. You won’t want to skip this one!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 today's episode, Mandee Hamann welcomes Sarah, one of our ScreenStrong Ambassadors, as she shares her family’s story of becoming ScreenStrong. She shares that it all started with an iPad and describes how quickly her family’s dynamic changed over the course of a few months. Sarah shares how she and her husband guided their family through the ScreenStrong Challenge, what happened after the Challenge was over, and how she reclaimed her family’s positive dynamic. This story will inspire you on your own journey and encourage you to reflect on shifting your own parenting perspectives.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