How do we help our kids to have a healthy and safe relationship with all of the available technology at their fingertips? On the first episode of Let’s Talk, Amanda Chavez and Karlene Grabner are joined by Oshkosh locals, Kate Mann and Lindsay Loewe, to provide their expertise on everything from how brain development impacts their interactions with screens to having conversations that bring connection while setting boundaries. 

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Meet our Guests

Kate Mann, Oshkosh Police Department
Kate Mann has worked for the Oshkosh Police for over 15 years and currently working as the Public Affairs/ Crime Prevention Officer. In this role, she focuses on community outreach, Crime Prevention programs, media relations, and our social media accounts. She is also a member of OPD’s Accident Investigation Team (Crash Reconstructionist), a member of OPD’s Drone team, and also on the Search Team for CART (Child Abduction Response Team).

Lindsay Loewe, Collaborative Wellness
Lindsay Loewe is a licensed mental health and substance use counselor and is passionate about the effects of screen time on the brain, especially the developing child and adolescent brain. She is actively involved in several school districts, community boards, and committees, and has two tween children of her own so she “gets” the parenting side of technology as well!

Meet our Hosts

Amanda Chavez, Owner & Creative Director, WiscoFam / Go Valley Kids / Go Oshkosh Kids
Born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, Amanda Chavez has a deep love for her community. As a busy mom of 2 little girls, she and her husband are always on the lookout for fun things to do and share with others. Her work combines all of her passions – motherhood, design, and community. Some of her other interests also peak through as well, including baking, photography, and sewing!

Karlene Grabner, Executive Director, Women’s Fund of the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation
Karlene Grabner is a graduate of Lourdes Academy and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where she studied finance and economics. She has shared her knowledge and passion for improving the Oshkosh community for the past 20 years through her work at the Oshkosh Community Foundation and Women’s Fund of Oshkosh. Karlene loves playing board games with her family, and when the weather is right, you’ll find them enjoying boating, wakeboarding, and kayaking with their dog, Bago.

Special Thanks

Liz Schultz, Producer, WiscoFam / Go Valley Kids / Go Oshkosh Kids

Marlo Ambras, Audio & Video Engineer, Ambas Creative

Transcript

Amanda Chavez  00:01

Hello and welcome to Let’s Talk the show that connects families and Oshkosh with folks to talk about your parenting questions. I’m Amanda Chavez here with my co-host, Karlene Grabner. And today we’re going to talk about online safety with Kate Mann and Lindsay Loewe. We’ll discuss the ins and outs of screentime social media and how our kids can navigate our very online world safely. Hi, Kate. Lindsey, thanks so much for joining us for our first episode. 

Lindsay Loewe  00:25

Thanks for having us. 

Kate Mann  00:27

Thank you. 

Amanda Chavez  00:28

The world, and our kids, are increasingly more online. It’s hard to keep up with where kids want to spend their time online and how to keep them safe while they’re there. We’ve been looking forward to talking to some experts about how to keep our kids safe 

Karlene Grabner  00:40

With us we have Lindsay who is a licensed mental health and substance abuse counselor Lindsay, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Lindsay Loewe  00:47

Yeah. Hi. I’m Lindsay Loewy. And like Karlene said, I’m a mental health and substance abuse counselor. I am here in Oshkosh, as well as Ripon. And I love focusing, unfortunately for my own two children, on technology and social media outlets and screen time and all the fun things that we as parents engage in, as well as our kids, engage in. So I am excited to talk with all of you today and be here. 

Karlene Grabner  01:19

Thanks, Lindsay, and we’re excited to have you. And then our other guests today is Kate Mann. And she is the Public Affairs and Crime Prevention Officer for the Oshkosh Police Department. Kate, you want to tell us a little bit about yourself? 

Kate Mann  01:31

Hey, thanks for having me on the show today. So like Karlene said, I’m the Public Affairs Crime Prevention Officer for the City of Oshkosh. I’ve been a police officer there for 15 years. And in my current role now for the last four years. And in this role, I work with media, social media, community outreach, and crime prevention programs. 

Amanda Chavez  01:52

So let’s talk about it. We have some questions that we saw over and over from parents trying to navigate parenting and technology, apps, screens all of it. Thought we would jump right in Lindsey, and talk about, this is something that even with my kids, we struggle with my kids are texting constantly, how can we get our kids to put our phones down? 

Lindsay Loewe  02:14

Okay, I think, you know, the easy answer is we as adults learn to put our phones down. And then what I really want to highlight today, though, is yes, texting, but screentime in general, as well as our kids trying to form healthier habits and have healthier habits, you know, the first five years of a child’s life are probably the most crucial when it comes to brain development. I’ve got two kids. And so my kids are kind of constantly my guinea pigs. And I really found this interesting. So let me just share a personal story. My first son, he was born, new parents had all the gadgets had, you know, the little playmat that he would lay under with the blinking lights and the you know, all the sounds and the crunchiness. And that is the child who has some anxiety, and who loves to be on technology and who every day is asking me if he can, you know, go on the phone. He’s about 12 years old now. And my other son as I, as I kind of got into researching more about brain development and how overstimulation impacts brain development. My second son had nothing, he had just like the wooden IKEA a playset that didn’t have any blinking, no blinking lights, no sound, nothing flashy. So I really tried to focus with him on some of that natural stimulation instead of the overstimulation. And, he is the kid that can take or leave watching a movie or playing video games. Now, that could be a total coincidence, because of their personality. And yet, I still put a lot of value in overstimulation and appropriate stimulation. In the first five years being the most important. A lot of our kids are inundated with stimulation. And that stimulation continues on through, you know, early childhood, elementary years, middle school years, teenage years. And so in our culture in our society, their brains are really being formed to be overstimulated. And yet, they’re not able to handle that. Finding this delicate balance of what is too much and what is just right or even what is not enough. When it comes to texting. Texting is a great way for kids to stay connected. I am all for FaceTiming grandmas and grandpas and texting with friends, but really having it be in moderation. I think beyond texting and getting our kids to put the phone down, texting is a great way to immediately stimulate the brain. So if I’m bored, I might pick up my phone to check my text messages or see who contacted me, or what my friends are saying, what my friends are doing. So, in my opinion, and, you know, my opinion is not necessarily the right one, texting is just another form of stimulation. And it’s another connection that our kids have to a screen. And so encouraging them, “Hey, you’ve been texting enough today,” or “Let’s put that down for a little while.” Remembering back to some of the days when we were growing up with a landline or without a cell phone. And knowing if I’m gone for the afternoon, I’m not going to get a text message, I don’t have to check it. Right. So putting phone down. And texting, just I think has a lot to do with balance of stimulation. 

Karlene Grabner  06:14

So Lindsay, I have a couple thoughts off of every great thing that you just said. But my personal story, my daughter is 14, and is a very rough time putting the phone down at all. And for Kate, I’m going to ask next about the safety of that. But for you, I have a question now that she’s this developmental stage in her life. And for all t