Screensnkids

Today on the podcast it was an honor to chat with Keeana Saxon, founder of kidogo productions - an online platform that is geared towards curating content that promotes diversity and representation in children's media. "Kidogo" is a Swahili word that means "small" and Keeana is someone who always goes after the small people, those in the margins. From her years as a lawyer, to teaching piano, completing the Boston Marathon, Keeana is multi-talented and multi passionate mum who keep representation at the heart of all she does.Some things we talked about in the podcast :  - Diversity in media and what is means for children's content  - The A.I.R acronym A - uthentic I - Inclusive and R - epresentation  - Explicit and Implicit biases of depiction of characters in children's shows. Website - kidogotv.comInstagram @kidogoproductions

This was a great conversation with Amy Tyson, co-founder alongside Blythe Winslow of Everyschool.org Ed-tech in schools is one of those things that has left parents with more questions than answers. Is it necessary? what is meaningful use what is not? Is 4 hours of homework on a device really beneficial? She was so knowledgeable and kind. Some things we discussed : Ø  What is the digital dilemma that schools are being faced with in introducing tech in schoolsØ  weUnpack the Ed-Tech Triangle and how schools can implement it Ø  Using “tech for techs sake” and what it means for childrens academic outcomesØ  Relevance of tech on learning, educational apps and kids with special needs.  - Forming local parent of every school in your communityIf you know an educator or parent who may benefit from this please do share so we can get the information in the hands of more people. xoxoxo Penny

My guest Today Jenny Hoey -  was more than kind in sharing her daughters’ story after an encounter online that led her to start the group Not My Kid - a group focused on keeping kids safe online, with an emphasis on delaying exposure to screens.She had such wisdom into how as parents we can be that soft landing spot and hold space for our kids to allow us into places that are so tender for them. We went deep from shame to normalizing difficult conversations and how child predators capitalize on kids innocence and curiosity. My take home from this episode was connect, connect, connect. Connect with your kids online and offline. Big Tech is not going to protect our kids – they only have a voracious appetite for their attention. “We have to be willing to sacrifice our time and attention to meet this generation in the trenches of the digital battlefield and pioneer a path forward together. The by-product of such sacrifice is a relationship forged in battle and love; it will not be shaken easily.” – Lisa Frost, The Fallacy of Neutrality.#onlinepredators#childhoodpredators#digitalsafety#childwellness#connect#screensnkids#ChildrenOnlinePrivacyProtectionAct#preservetheearlyyears#childrensmentalhealth#Resources: Not my Kid - www.notmykid.com.auFacebookgroup - Notmykid_everProtect Young Eyes - https://protectyoungeyes.com/We show families, schools, and churches how to create safer digital spaces. We do this with a pretty great website, super fly presentations, and a unique learning app for parents who have ZERO free timeBARK Technologies - www.bark.usConnect to 30+ platforms to monitor text messages, emails, and social activity for signs of harmful interactions and content.Quotes : – If we share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, our shame cannot survive. Shame loves secrecy, silence and judgment - Brenee Brown

Kids are hardwired for a sense of novelty and new experiences. Travel meets this need and also their sense of wonder and imagination as they try new experiences, taste different food and meet new people. After having kids, (especially when they are young) travel becomes a lofty idea in the rearview mirror due to all the moving parts involved - but my guest has a different take. Jennifer Allen is a mum of three who is the founder behind Wonders Within Reach - a special needs based travel family organization.  Together with her husband and three kids - one who requires assistive devices to aid in his mobility, they hike bike and travel sharing in their experiences.#screensnkids#travel&inclusion#disabilitytravel#faith&travel#preservetheearlyyears#travelkids#kidswhoexplore#wonder#travel#earlyyears#disabledtravel#inclusion#respite#kindnessWonders Within Reach https://wonderswithinreach.com/ Respite resources A Mother's Rest: A nonprofit, unique, nationwide, affordable respite & fellowship experience exclusively for parents & caregivers of loved ones with disabilities.https://www.amothersrest.org/Nathaniels Hope:Nathaniel's Hope was founded in 2002 after four-year-old Nathaniel Timothy Kuck relocated to Heaven. The organization celebrates kids with special needs (our VIPs) as well as educates and equips communities and churches to provide FREE respite care and programs to enrich the lives of VIP families. https://nathanielshope.org/ Quotes: "Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see." "You either risk a no or you take a no."

Our first guest this season, is a dad of three who has been swimming with sharks and diving in bat caves as part of his research work, but what he says scares him the most is what kids are missing out on in their childhood by being constantly on devices. Dan Riskin is an evolutionary biologist who produced an epic documentary at the height of the pandemic called, "Babies scroll before they can crawl." He was so kind in extending grace to parents as we try and  survive "pandemic parenting" - which some days has felt like I am gasping for air.#screensnkids#fatherhood&science#pandemicparenting#fatherhood#screendetox#screenresearch#babiesscrollbeforetheycancrawl#CTV#DanRiskin#kidsbrainsonscreens#delaydevices#pandemicscreenstime# Documentary: Babies Scroll before they can crawl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SIxv1MNYvk&t=160s Books Referenced: Glow Kids - Nikolas KardarasThe Enchanted Hour - The Miraculous power of reading aloud in the age of distractionQuotes: "Genetics loads the gun the environment fires the trigger." - Soania Mathur

Are the apps on your phone "sticky?" Do you find yourself going back to a certain app again and again every waking hour? when did you last have an actual conversation on your phone? Our guest today is here to help us unpack some of these questions and introduce us to a phone that us making tech human again. Joe Hollier is the  co founder of the Light phone. From their website it is a phone to be used as little as possible.Things we discuss on the podcast : Making tech humane again with the Light phoneThe stickiness of an app – how many hours a day does someone spend on your website /appThe Light Phone – drawing the line in the sand as far as what apps are necessary and what will never be on the phone Gaining control back over your dayWhat a smart-phone free school felt and looked like for a yearPurchase a light phone : https://www.thelightphone.com/

Lynn Mcloughlin brings years of experience in various roles within the school system including serving as a superintendent. She is a lifelong educator, author, podcast host and motivational speaker. Her vision is to cultivate confidence, empathy, responsibility, and self-awareness in children, equipping them with the skills to regulate their emotions in a positive way. Things we discuss in the podcast: Ø  Taking a proactive versus reactive approach to children’s emotional wellbeingØ  Navigating wellbeing within the school systemØ  Promoting children’s wellbeing in the early yearsØ  The power of story telling and mental wellbeingØ  Through her book series the Power of Thought – how to teach kids emotional vocabulary – Really answer the question - what am I feeling?Resources to find Guest : https://lynnmclaughlin.com/Order her Book Series - The Power of Thought https://www.amazon.ca/What-Thinking-True-Power-Thought/dp/1775001784/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1J3HXWW6Y9T0P&keywords=Lynn+McLaughlin&qid=1683219955&sprefix=lynn+mclaughlin%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-2

To honor Autism awareness month which is marked in April ; today we get to hear from Natalie Pelto. When her son was 3, he was non-verbal and like any reasonable parent she begun seeking all kinds of support to rule out/ rule in among other things -  autism. From speech therapy to OT -  This finally  led her to a personal journey of lifestyle modification for about 4 years - which included diet, time outdoors and reducing inputs that cause inflammation including environmental toxins, problematic screen time etc. The results are in. He begun speaking, he is thriving in school and has an active social life which Natalie shares about.  Things we talk about in the podcast : 1.)    Lifestyle modifications – what makes it hard to change our lifestyle 2.)    Broad definition of autism - the role of environment, diet, toxins etc3.)    Nutrition and the role of inflammation in increasing toxin levels4.)    The microbiome – what is it and why does it matter?5.)    The role of inflammation in increasing toxin levels in our systemResources to reach Natalie: The website is www.blueliferx.comMy Instagram is www.instagram.com/rebellespectrumwww.blueliferx.com/autismwebinar to sign up for free education on how we supported autism + access to all the free challenges I run throughout the year through email.

Our guest today, Melissa Nobbs, was gracious and so kind to share her son Aidan's story.  Things we discussed in this podcast: -          The evolution of challenges – how online challenges are different from the simple truth or dare from the 80s and 90s-          The human desire to be seen to be heard and accepted how it plays into online challenges-          Demographics behind online challenges and why middle school is a high risk time -          Aidan Nobbs beautiful story-          How kids are always pinging and dropping us breadcrumbs into their lives.-          Why it is important to allow kids to make mistakes, make them early and make them oftenResources and parent resources around online challenges : Eric's Cause - https://www.erikscause.org/ Mason's Message - https://www.facebook.com/masonsmessage/

Our guest today, Jen Hardy is a mum of seven who brings years of experience adn clarity to the parenting scene. Things we talk about in the podcast : -          Navigating homeschooling for 20+ years -          Tips and tricks for managing a home- even with a chronic illness-          Navigating the family dinner table - answering the persistent question, “what is for dinner?”, making the family dinner engaging-          Setting and holding boundaries when it is easy to be a “slot machine.”-          Thriving as a parent in your fifties-          Raising a child with special needs and what it means for their learning journey-          Finding your tribe - Creating a support system / “a village” to help in parentingResources : The Hardy Mom -  https://hardymom.com/

This was such a short, practical conversation which is what I feel so many of us need when there is so much information out there as far as navigating media and screentime. Brenee Brown has a quote I love, 'to be clear is to be kind." Alex is clear with her media management tips and was so kind and gentle in sharing it through this conversation. Some things we discussed : 1.)    Hiding like counts on your profile – how to do it and the benefits.2.)    A 4-step process of interacting with media in a more mindful way3.)    The impulse behind phone checking and what to do about it4.)    Navigating the newborn days when there is a lot of time spent “just sitting.”5.)    Understanding screentime research – how to sift through the dataAlex website -https://mindfulwithmedia.com/ Blogpost - 30 Productive things to do while holding a baby instead of social media - https://mindfulwithmedia.com/30-productive-things-to-do-while-holding-a-baby-instead-of-social-media/Hiding the number of likes on your social media - How to hide the number of likes - https://mindfulwithmedia.com/how-to-hide-the-number-of-likes-on-instagram-2022/

Emily Cherkin also known in the digital sphere as "The screen time consultant," shared her insight from her years as a teacher and now parent educator and digital wellness educator with parents, mental health professionals etc. Some of the things we discussed in this episode: -          The role of relationships in fostering kids tech use-          The power of “living life out loud” while using technology-          Technology in schools – the idea of “skills before screens.”-          Parental controls : why strong parent-child relationships are a better option-          The role of big-tech and what needs to happen at a macro-levelEmily article on parental controls : https://www.thescreentimeconsultant.com/which-parental-controls-do-i-recommend-none-d83c77309120sourcerss-43e8070c4854------2To gain more resources from Emily website you can visit it here - https://www.thescreentimeconsultant.com/

Things we discussed in this episode -       What Niksen is and what it is not -       Cultivating Niksen in our home space and day to day lives : How our environments play a huge role-       How can we gove kids the space and gift of unstructured play to have limitless moments of Niksen-       How do we Niksen in a time when we are constantly inundated with external input -       Making Niksen a reality with parenting-       Mental illness and Niksen -        

Lenore Skenazy is the co-founder of the organization - Let Go and Let Grow. A movement that is making it easy, normal and legal to give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident, and happy adults.Lenore was named, "America's worst mom" after she let her then 9 year old son Izzy take the subway home alone from midtown Manhattan. We went deep with Lenore ranging from :  - The skills children develop during play – conflict resolution, empathy etc  - Why talking and doing less serves kids better than talking and doing more - How we are robbing our kids (especially boys) of their "Heroes journey" when we constantly rescue, solve and problemshoot. - Creating a Let Grow club and project within your home / communityTo reach Lenore and start a Let Go after school club you can visit their website at www.letgrow.org. You can purchase her book Free Range Kids here