Mental Health & Technology

After her oldest son dropped out of college due to his video game addiction, Melanie Hempe put her nursing degree to good use and founded Screen Strong,@bescreenstrong a nonprofit that empowers families to prevent screen problems and reclaim their kids from toxic screens. Listen to this episode and learn how your family can stop fighting over screens, kids can gain more life skills and everyone can benefit!

The mission of the Phone-Free Schools Movement @phonefreeschools is to provide youth the freedom to excel academically and develop socially without the distractions, pressures, and harms of phones and social media during the school day. In this episode meet and listen to all 3 founding members: Kim Whitman, Sabine Polak, and Mileva Repasky recount personal experiences with phones in schools and reasons why a “no phone bell to bell” policy in schools is needed.

Lenore Skenazy is no stranger to doing hard things and sitting in the discomfort of letting your child explore their independence. In 2008 she wrote an article about allowing her 9 year old son to ride a New York City subway all the way home, by himself. The backlash from the public and media was swift…to say the least. Lenore says our kids are smarter, safer, and stronger than our culture gives them credit for and encourages us to get our kids outside, offline and let them grow.

Kris Harrison, PhD is an expert in the relationships families have with media. As the Richard Cole imminent professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, she studies children and media in a family context. Recently, she's focused on children's use of media devices and content for sensory regulation and how this is connected with parent-child conflict around the child's media use. Our conversation in this episode centers around neurodivergent children and how their needs for sensory input can vary hugely from their siblings and friends. Many ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) adults and children are finding success with using technology as a portable control device for overwhelming environments. It’s a really good conversation - one that changed the way I see restaurants and other public areas. I hope you’ll listen!

As the source behind the Wall Street Journal's Facebook Files, Frances Haugen exposed Facebook's awareness, complicity, radicalization in political violence around the world, plus their disregard to users' mental health. Her new book: The Power Of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook, (available in our Amazon Marketplace) tells the backstory and more. I had the opportunity to speak with Frances. She was incredibly generous with her time…so generous that I did something I never have before – that is: create a 2 part episode. Enjoy listening to Part 2 of this fabulous conversation as Frances Haugen talks about ways we can fix social media….not kill it.

The Facebook Whistleblower, Frances Haugen deserves a seat in the High Court of Heroes in the “Do The Right Thing” Justice League ( I just made that up but it should absolutely be a thing.). A data scientist, Harvard graduate, expert of algorithmic product management and an Iowan daughter of two professors, Frances truly moved the needle for humanity when she recognized wrongdoing and stood up for the world. The source behind the Wall Street Journal's, Facebook Files, Frances exposed Facebook's awareness, complicity, radicalization in political violence around the world, plus their disregard to users' mental health. Her new book: The Power Of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook, (available in our Amazon Marketplace) tells the backstory and more. When I had the opportunity to speak with Frances she was incredibly generous with her time…so generous that I am going to do something I never have before – that is: break this episode into 2 parts.

Emma Lembke is a young adult who is the founder of the Log Off Movement, an activist for better legislation for online protections, and a student at Washington University in St Louis. Emma is passionate about leaning into the creativity and resourcefulness of other young people who are interested in choosing their best path forward with technology. Her intergenerational work has created space for dialogue between lawmakers and youth for policy changes that favor protection over profit. Her tips on managing screen time and involving teens to take control of their screen use will help all families.

Teaching body boundaries and online safety is what We Stand Guard does best. We Stand Guard is a training program designed to educate everyone about preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation in all its forms, whether that be physical or non-physical contact abuse. Kimberly Perry is the brains behind the program. Author and elementary school educator, with over 15 years experience working with children across the country, Kimberly has a master of arts and teaching and has taught boundaries and personal safety to over 1000 elementary school students. In this episode she teaches us about body boundaries and online safety for kids

LiveMore ScreenLess is a Minnesota-based organization that uses best practices from education, public health, and positive youth development to engage with family, schools, and organizations to promote balanced, intentional, and effective use of technology. That is the total trifecta! the best of all possible uses of technology! Listen to this episode as I talk to the co-founders Maree Hampton and KK Myers. They are dynamic women who are changing the way Minnesota does tech in schools.

Chris Stedman is a writer, activist, and adjunct professor who teaches in the Dept. of Religion and Philosophy at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN. Previously the founding director of the Yale Humanist Community, he also served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University. He is the author of a new book titled, “IRL: Finding Our Real Selves in a Digital World.” In this episode, we discuss why people are leaving religious institutions in pursuit of finding connections online and what it means to be real in a digital space.

Kathy Van Benthuysen spent nearly 30 years as a fourth grade teacher and had a front row seat to watch the impact technology had on children. As the Chief Product Officer of Converlation (a business that works to provide the exchange of thoughts, ideas, and feelings that build and strengthen family relationships), Kathy has suggestions on where to start building relational health. Your relationship with your child is the best filter you have for online protection. Listen to this episode to learn how to strengthen it today!

Summer is barreling down on us and while some are ready for the lazy mornings and unscheduled days, others are already starting to agitate over how to navigate these coming weeks without succumbing to the allure and ease of too much screen time. This week we get the full collective knowledge of the moms of Healthy Screen Habits– Amy Adams, Jeannie Ondelacy Sprague, Julianna Lorenzen, and me, Hillary Wilkinson– to share our tips, tricks and hacks on how to have a balanced summer with tech.

Sandi Schwartz is the founder and director of the Ecohappiness Project, author of the parenting book “Finding Ecohappiness: Fun Nature Activities to Help Your Kids Feel Happier and Calmer,” and journalist specializing in parenting, environmental, and wellness topics. Her mission is to inspire and educate families to build a nature habit to feel happier and calmer. In this episode, we discuss how to create a nature habit and support a healthy balance of screentime and greentime.

As a lifelong camper and career Summer Camp Director, Michael Jacobus observed that summer camp was changing. The majority of campers arrived GLUED to their phones. The RESET program is a complete detox from all screen-based electronic devices and the establishment of a set schedule, getting enough sleep, healthy eating habits and basically RESETTING your teen to a place of health and harmony.

Going back to school this year looks different. Many families are feeling the anxiety of Covid, screentime, and schoolwork. Add a surging Delta variant and it’s enough to push even the steadiest parent off balance. Bette Alkazian is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Parenting Coach and nationally recognized parenting expert who works with families to ease challenges and increase joys of raising children.

Hilarie Cash is a pioneer in the field of digital addiction and one of the nation’s leading clinical experts in internet and gaming disorders. As a co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of ReStart Life, the first-of-its-kind residential treatment facility in the U.S. and Canada, she has been studying technology and its effects upon mental health since the 1990s. Learn how to recognize problematic behaviors and when to ask for help by listening to this episode.

Cheryl Cardall is a proud mom of 5 and the podcast host of the Fight Like a Mother podcast. She advocates for those living with mental illness and for parents raising children with mental illness. In this episode, we discuss how screens affect mental health, parenting challenges, and breaking the stigma surrounding mental illness. Listen to hear tips on how to navigate parenting with technology and end the power struggle surrounding screen use in your family.

“I Believe In Me” is an online program designed to give tween girls (11-14 yrs) a carefully crafted step up into their teen years and tech use. Using a theme of gardening to explain self-care and awareness, girls are taught how to build strength through self-awareness and rise above the comparison, criticism, and self-doubt that is rampant when engaging with social media. Founder and members of the I Believe in Me staff Katie Parker, Becky Fife, and Allie Callister speak about the principles guiding their program and the tools to implement within your own home, all while bringing a whole lot of fun to this episode!