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!

Healthy Screen Habits was founded by a group of 4 moms who find it imperative to practice what we teach! Next week, the podcast will take a break as we enjoy Spring Break with our own families. During Spring Break, take some time to do some digital spring cleaning! Delete unused apps and revisit memories of the past year by organizing photos. The act of revisiting memories brings about reminiscence which it turns out is one of the best ways to increase language with younger kids and strengthen memory. Enjoy all of these memories and create new ones this Spring Break.

You know that zombie trance that your kids get when watching Cocomelon or other fast paced “kid shows”? Do you ever experience the epic meltdowns that come with the phrase “turn it off”? Well - I’ve got great news. You can avoid these by using kid podcasts to buy yourself 30 minutes for dinner prep/making the needed phone calls/car rides instead! Andi Smiley, the host of The Friendly Podcast Guide @friendlypodcastguide, is awesome!! She created a podcast that helps moms find podcasts for themselves and for their kids. No more zombies!! Build strong imagination muscles by exposing your kids to some of the great kid podcasts out there.

Jo Piazza failed at being a momfluencer. She is a bestselling author, journalist and creator of Under The Influence podcast, Her hilarious, and frankly a little horrifying, take on how social media influences so much of our lives and how the commodification of every single aspect of our lives is driving everyone ( but mostly girls, women and mothers) a little insane is on point. We dive into all of the good things in this episode- including the screen practice that Jo says she’ll never give up…..like, ever.

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!

Christina Crook is a pioneer and leading voice in digital well-being.The award-winning author of The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World, harbinger of the global #JOMO movement, and Good Burdens: How to Live Joyfully in a Digital Age, Christina shares her insights about technology and our daily lives. Listen and learn about living joyfully, managing tech and more!

KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act) provides families with the tools, safeguards, and transparency they need to protect against threats to children’s health and well-being online. The legislation would require social media platforms put the interests of children first by requiring these platforms to make safety the default. Contact your Senators to urge Senate Majority Leader Schumer to bring KOSA (The Kids Online Safety Act) to the floor for a vote. Do it today!