WEBSITES: These sites dig into the parenting challenges of finding balance in a technological world. If you have other suggested sites, please get in touch!
- PSTT Brainstorm Notes from the first PSTT event 2/12/18
- CommonSense Media: One of the most thorough resources out there. “Parents’ ultimate guide to…” reviews of apps, movies and other media. Articles on a host of screen time parenting challenges, searchable by topic, by child’s age and more.
- Raising Digital Natives is a blog by Screenwise author Devorah Heitner. Her approach focuses on mentoring and communication.
- Screenagers’ resources page and their Tech Talk Tuesdays blog providing weekly conversation ideas for open communication with teens about tech.
- Wait Until 8th provides support for families looking to wait on smartphones until at least 8th grade.
- Away for the Day is a national campaign giving parents the tools to support schools in limiting the use of personal devices.
- Cyberwise is a non-profit aimed at helping families use tech “safely and wisely.” It is similar to CommonSense Media; if one resource doesn’t have the info you need the other might. Of particular interest might be their Chats: 30 minute video events featuring a different tech topic and panel of experts the first Tuesday of each month, and their Learning Hubs: quick reads about a large variety of topics from cyberbullying to TikTok.
TOOLS:
- Screenagers’ screen time contract ideas
- AAP’s Family Media Plan Tool
ARTICLES we often return to:
- Consumer Reports’ directions on how to set parental controls on Android and iPhone.
- Common Sense Media’s guide to Parental Controls and Google’s Family Link App
- How to Turn an Android Phone into a Dumbphone in 8 Steps
- AAP’s Policy Statement Media and Young Minds
- AAP’s Policy Statement Media Use in School-Aged Children and Adolescents
Books we’ve read and found thought provoking:
- Screenwise by Devorah Heitner
- Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Parents Supporting Thoughtful Technology 