Children Who Exceed AAP Screen Time Recommendations are Happier… What Gives?
Recently, a host of popular press articles, like this one from Newsweek and this one from USA Today, suggested that children’s screen-time guidelines are too restrictive and won’t work. The articles...
View ArticleAccused of Being an Over-Involved, Child-Centric Parent? Research Shows You...
I consider parenting to be one of the most important (and most enjoyable) things I get to do in my life. I think about it a lot, read about it, research it, and I write about it. I think parental...
View ArticleMy Biggest Parenting Anxiety… For Good Reason
While the title of our website is Screen-Free Parenting, we are actually not that concerned with screens. That might be because they don’t really play a role in our daily lives. It’s also because by...
View ArticleCreativity, A Growth Mindset, and Our New Tool
You might think you are reading a blog on parenting screen-free, but we actually spend very little time thinking about the one thing we don’t do a whole lot of: using screens for entertainment. We...
View ArticleThese Photos Explain why People in London Spend More Time at More Natural...
Take a few moments and envision a playground in your area. What does it look like? If you live in the United States, it’s likely brightly colored with climbing structures, slides and swings over a turf...
View ArticleJoin Us in the Fight Against Persuasive Design for Children
I am working with Dr. Richard Freed, The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, and the Children’s Screen Time Action Network in an effort to encourage the American Psychological Association to make...
View ArticleParents, Be the Teenager You Want to Have
Not unlike many parents of young children, I often think about my kids as teenagers. There will be passing moments where they seem far older than their true age and I can envision them as a teenager....
View Article10 Easy Tips for Avoiding Technoference and Being Absorbed into Your Device
In our last article Parents, Be the Teenager You Want to Have, we discussed being a good model of technology use for your kids while they are still young. We also looked at some research that...
View ArticleA New Study on the Relationship between ADHD and Screen Time
A new research study linking symptoms of ADHD with excessive screen time is getting lots of media attention and for good reason. The study was very well-designed. They followed over 2,500...
View ArticleThe Yard Time Initiative: Demanding Sufficient Recess Through Research
A new school year is approaching and that means kids all around the country will be setting up camp in a low-lying industrial building for 7 plus hours per day. The amount of time they will spend...
View ArticleA Small Habit With A Big Payoff: What You Can Do About Literacy Inequality
It seems like as one of the richest nations in the world, the United States would be pretty literate. But, research suggests we are not. A national assessment of the literacy rate of adults in the...
View ArticleThe Kids Are Not Alright, At Least According to Them
Most teen dystopian novels start out the same way: the world is coming to an end, adults are oblivious, teens have been trying to raise the alarm, and yet, no one is listening to them. I dislike the...
View ArticleAs Kids Head Back to School, The American Academy of Pediatrics Recommends...
My oldest daughter just started Kindergarten and like most parents, the kindergarten of 2018 is quite different than the kindergarten we experienced. I remember pulling out rough carpet squares on...
View ArticleFollowing Pediatrician Guidelines, Including Screen Time Guidelines, Could...
Despite critics recently suggesting that screen time guidelines are outdated, new research adds to the larger body of research supporting those screen time guidelines put forth by the American Academy...
View ArticleI Don’t Want Parents to Feel Guilty
Limiting screen time or even going full bore screen free has been equated with some kind of super-involved, activity-curating parenting. If you walked into my home, you would know this is quite a myth....
View ArticleScary User-Generated Content and 5 Tips for Managing Children’s Internet Use
Recently, there has been a lot written about self-harm challenges, whether they’re real or not, the panic parents feel, and what to do. I watched the story unfold and was contacted by a few reporters...
View ArticleMy Kid Only Follows Positive Influencers. New Research Shows It Might Not Matter
We do so many good things as parents. We eat healthy, we exercise regularly, we speak kindly, and we contribute to our community, just to name a few. But, kids seem uniquely primed to repeat the bad...
View ArticleStructural Differences in Preschooler’s Brains Predicted by Screen Time
The topic of children’s screen time is controversial for many reasons: cognitive dissonance, concerns over parent shaming and judgement, and the quality of the research on children’s screen time. I...
View ArticleWhy Your Kids Need Saturday Morning Cleaning, Not Cartoons
There is a popular series of books called, Eat this, Not that, which provide a basic nutritional overview of competing foods and encourage healthy choices. I hope this website has a similar...
View ArticleWhat We’ve Read Recently – The Offline Book Club List 1
When you parent screen-free (or limited), there is ample time for great reading. One screen-free kid is an independent reader, the other is emerging, but we still read to both every day. We are...
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