Brain rot, TikTok, and shrinking attention spans are making headlines in the media as we try to figure out the best path forward in education. Sarah Shepherd dedicated her PhD work to studying the long-term effects of overstimulation on developing brains.

Learn about new study techniques Gen Z is employing to help them focus, as well as how economic disparity is contributing to the digital divide. Listen now!

Trigger Warning: This episode isn't easy—but it's essential. What do screen habits have to do with real-world harm? More than we want to admit.

In this powerful conversation, we sit down with the CEO of Safenest to unpack the uncomfortable truth: what kids see online can shape what they believe is normal offline. From early exposure to explicit content… to the rise of the manosphere… to the quiet ways culture is influencing our boys—this episode goes there. But it's not about fear. It's about prevention, awareness, and action.

You'll walk away with: A clearer understanding of how digital content impacts behavior. Practical ways to talk to your kids (without pushing them away). Insight into raising boys who respect and protect—not harm. This is one of those conversations every parent needs… even if it's hard to hear.

Screentime and ADHD brains have their own challenges. ADHD brains have different strengths and weaknesses - technology can exploit them. In this episode, Learn how digital use affects the ADHD brain and how to set up some successful parameters with expert Adela Baker, PCC, PCAC.

There's a new app for teens and families that picks up where "blocking apps" stop.Dayo (the app) does not proclaim to be the answer to a parenting solution to mental health problems. Dayo is about getting screen time down by using a proven technique to do it. From there, you can parent and decide how to invest time offline - go bike riding, go on hikes, or play family games together! Listen to this episode and visit the show notes on the Healthy Screen Habits website to gain access to this valuable resource and use code HSH for a free one-month trial.

Talmage Erickson is an author, speaker, and digital wellness expert. Having survived high school with a flip phone, he learned what it meant to live beyond the screen.

As one of the Screen Guys, Talmage believes in creating intentional balance. This week, we talked about relating to teens in meaningful ways that will help drive connection and make talking about boundaries surrounding technology use easy.

Happy week of the Young Child! The week of the Young Child is an annual week-long celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (AKA: NAEYC). The purpose of this week is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families, and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. The book I'd like to honor and recognize for this is: Screen Aware Early Childhood, A Realistic Approach to Helping Young Children Thrive in a Digitally Complex World. The authors, Pat Cantor, Mindy Holohan, and Jean Rogers, walk us through the key points and tell us what we can do now to help our children thrive in the digital age.

Listen to this episode and visit the show notes on the Healthy Screen Habits website to gain access to this valuable resource.

Dawn Wible and Julianna Arnold are co-chairs of the Online Harms Prevention workgroup at Fairplay. Fairplay for Kids is the nation's leading nonprofit committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children. The online harms prevention work group believes children and young people deserve to be safe online. Today, we discuss a helpful kit designed to assist parents in getting a handle on all areas of online harms.

Listen to this episode and visit the show notes on the Healthy Screen Habits website to gain access to this valuable resource.

Julianna Arnold is Coco's mom. Coco is forever 17, having been killed by a fentanyl overdose given to her from someone she trusted online. On this episode, learn how social media companies are finally being tried for addictive product design and how parents of kids who have suffered from online harms are staying strong.

Just as you wouldn't let a new driver take the wheel of a car without proper training, using smartphones requires instruction. Healthy Screen Habits now has a workbook designed for tweens and teens to help them navigate the rules of the road for smartphone use.

Healthy Screen Habits Workbook for Tweens and Teens is what we, the founding members of Healthy Screen Habits, wish we had when our oldest kids received their first devices. Learn all about it when you listen to this episode with the authors: Amy Adams and Jeannie Ondelacy Sprague.

Eli Singer is the author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance and the founder of Offline.now, a global platform and community for digital balance. Offline. now's mission is to help people build a calmer, more intentional relationship with technology, using practical, compassionate tools and a supportive community so they can use screens purposefully and focus on what matters most. In this episode, we talk about how to figure out the role you want technology to play in your one, amazing life.

Listen now!