We are some of the most powerful voices in our children’s lives, and we can help them discern what is accurate information versus misinformation or disinformation. Here are a few tips you can offer when coaching your kiddo on media literacy.

It’s that time of year when the weather is changing, holiday decor is appearing on the shelves and gift-giving may be on the mind. Along with connection, cheer and cups of cocoa, this season can also bring about lengthy shopping lists and overwhelming decisions. If whether or not to buy your child a smartphone is one of those choices, you are not alone!

With the release of the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, you may feel added pressure to get your child a new device. But before you introduce a fully loaded smartphone, we encourage you to ponder three simple questions. WHY AM I GETTING MY CHILD A SMARTPHONE? If the answer is connection, or keeping in

If you feel like video games aren’t what they used to be, you’re right. The days of Pac-Man and Atari are long gone, replaced with virtual reality headsets and hyper-realistic war zones. Today, we’re sharing a detailed look at what has changed and how you can bring back some of the more relational elements you might remember from your childhood.

Virtual reality uses technology to create a simulated world or experience, typically through the use of a headset that provides a 180- or 360-degree view. It is an immersive experience, making the user feel as if they are truly inside a virtual world.

The positive effects of participating in youth sports are numbered, yet there is a distracting new teammate causing disengagement among today’s athletes—the smartphone. Instead of focusing on the game, players run to the bench to check their phones for notifications. Instead of practicing drills outside, teens spend hours inside scrolling through social media.

We all know time matters. For parents, we need to focus on how we spend that time. From the moment our children are born until the time they graduate, we have approximately 936 weeks with them. In the book Playing for Keeps by Reggie Joiner, Kristen Ivy and Liz Hansen, these precious weeks are illustrated with a jar filled with marbles—each marble representing one week.

Felicia Wu Song is a sociologist at Westmont College who studies the way technology has changed contemporary life. On the Screen Sanity’s final episode of 2021, she joins START co-founder Krista Boan for a conversation about digital fatigue and unpacks how our own lives have been transformed by devices and screens.

If you have a teen or tween, you’re probably familiar with TikTok challenges. Some of them come and go without gaining much traction, and others—like the recent “devious licks” challenge—make headline news.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a front-page article titled, Facebook Knows Instagram is Toxic for Teen Girls, Company Documents Show. The eye-opening piece uncovers some of Facebook’s own internal research, showing the damaging effects Instagram has on teens’ mental health. In this blog, we offer five simple ways to help your kids deal with social media pressure.