“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” -Maya Angelou
There was a time when everyone used to smoke it seemed. Even doctors smoked in the halls of the hospital. That sounds crazy doesn’t it? During those days, we didn’t know how harmful smoking was to our health or the long term effects of that addiction. But now that we know better, we do better.
Our kids are growing up with an ever changing digital landscape. Every day there seems to be a new study or article about the dangers of screens. Most households have more screens than people in them. What is a parent to do? How do we raise well adjusted, responsible, resilient human beings when the virtual world is so toxic, especially for our kids? We do it the same way we changed the culture with smoking: we raise awareness regarding the dangers and we stop smoking!
Can we really stop using screens? No. But we can turn off the screen time that is hurting our kids the most: mindless entertaining and overstimulating screen time. For young kids it is the never-ending stream of video content. For older kids it is the addictive video games and social media. It sounds like a difficult task. What will I do with my kids? Actually, it is much easier than you think. The key is to not try to do it alone—it takes a village. That is why the ScreenStrong community is so valuable. It is a group of like-minded parents and caretakers who are supporting each other as they make better choices for their families. They are paying attention to the research and are successfully skipping the screen conflicts and problems that exist for kids. Imagine never having a screen argument in your home again! It isn’t easy at first but it is doable and the rewards are evident in the families who have made the decision to try a new approach. .
ScreenStrong isn’t about NO screens. It is advocating for the wise use of screens and delaying toxic screen use until adulthood when the brain has fully formed and is ready to handle a device and the responsibility that comes with it.
Check out the website and resources available at ScreenStrong.org.
