My guest Arlene Pellicane, author of Screen Kids, shares about raising kids in a world of screens. In her house, Arlene and her husband have a “no phone, no gaming, no social media” policy for their kids. They have a practical reason behind this decision and she shares her research with us.   

“Kids who are raised constantly with screen, don’t know how to honor or talk with their parents. They are not spending enough face-to-face time with them.”

Today, the majority of American children spend five to eight hours a day in front of a screen and less than an hour playing outside, reading a book or interacting with family. This means a child’s sleep quality, attention span and stress level is negatively affected by the tight grip of modern technology.

Arlene challenges parents to think more critically about using devices, instead of just accepting the notion that a device is a necessity. She stresses the importance of delaying giving kids a device for as long as possible. 

“When a child is playing a video game, their body is thinking fight or flight. So naturally all the blood goes to protect the major organs except for the prefrontal cortex. And if this happens everyday, that prefrontal cortex will be malnourished.”

Things we talked about

Digital vegetables vs digital candy

Reconsidering phones for younger kids

Building real world skills for our kids instead of just digital ones

Setting digital boundaries. 

How to reset from the digital world