Screen Sanity

Listeners may know Brady Smith and his wife Tiffani Thiessen from their work in film and television. What you may not know is that they’re passionate about helping families reassess their relationship with screens. 

In 2019, they published You’re Missing It, a children’s book that’s a cautionary tale about what happens when parents find themselves glued to their phones. During the months of COVID lockdown, Brady created a hit Instagram show called Random Acts of Drawness, inviting kids to draw and doodle in real life away from screens. This happy accident led to the launch of his latest book by the same name--now available everywhere super-awesome activity sketchbooks are sold.

Listen in as Brady joins START co-founder Krista Boan for a conversation about the book and their efforts to help their kids develop healthy relationships with screens. 

Screen Sanity is Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START.

It is produced and edited by Mike Cosper for Cosper Productions.

What are the unique pressures that come with social media for girls? How can parents help give them a “learners permit” for online life? How do we think about our own relationships with social media and how it affects our kids? 

On this week’s episode, START co-founder Krista Boan sits down with Amanda Mozea to talk about these questions and more. Amanda is the Education Outreach Manager of Media Girls (www.mediagirls.org), where she and her team work to equip parents and girls to better understand the risks and rewards of online life.

Screen Sanity is Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START.

It is produced and edited by Mike Cosper for Cosper Productions.

Scott Bacon is the principal of Blue Valley High School in Overland Park, Kansas. On this episode of the podcast, Scott sits down with START’s Krista Boan to talk about the impact of screen time and technology on student life at Blue Valley. They discuss the pressures of social media, school policies on phone usage and access, and the ways that remote learning and ZOOM fatigue have forced changes in those policies in recent months. You’ll hear real life wisdom from someone who spends every day on the front lines of the struggle for kids’ health and attention against the constant allure of technology. 

Screen Sanity is Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START

It is produced and edited by Mike Cosper and Narrativo

Susan Dunaway is a neurotherapist whose practice has explored the many connections between screens and mental health. On this episode of the podcast, she talks with START co-founder and host Krista Boan about the science of neurotherapy and the effect of screen time and social media on the brain, including the remarkably important roles dopamine and oxytocin play in health and well-being. 

She also speaks from personal experience, describing her own family’s practices, what she’s learned and adapted during COVID, and how she’s seen gaming impact the development of the minds and mental health of middle schoolers. 

Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START

Produced and Edited by Mike Cosper and Narrativo

On this week’s podcast, host Krista Boan sits down with Amy Crouch to talk about what it was like growing up in a tech-wise family. Amy is a 19-year-old student at Cornell University and the co-author with her dad, Andy Crouch, of My Tech Wise Life: Growing Up and Making Choices in a World of Devices.

They talk about the challenges of being the only kid who doesn’t have a smart phone or doesn’t use social media, but they also talk about the rewards of those decisions and the insulation it provides from social pressures and gossip. Making decisions that lead to flourishing for our children can be incredibly difficult, but as Amy can attest, the rewards greatly outweigh the difficulties.

Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START

Produced and Edited by Mike Cosper and Narrativo

On the first episode of our podcast, host Krista Boan sits down with Tracy Foster. Krista and Tracy are co-founders of START, which is short for Stand Together And Rethink Technology. On this episode, they discuss the foundational ideas of START, and they ways they hope to encourage families to reexamine the ways that kids and parents interact with technology. They also talk about real-life examples of the challenges parents face when introducing technology and apps, and in particular, how to talk to your kids when they’ve overstepped a boundary.

This is just the beginning for our podcast, and a first taste of the ways we hope to equip families to participate in the digital world in ways that lead to flourishing.

Screen Sanity is Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START

It is produced and edited by Mike Cosper and Narrativo