254: Dr. Devorah Heitner Answers Everything on Screentime with Children

Sep 30

Parenting in the digital age can be confusing and scary. We know a lot of our listeners have the same questions that we do when it comes to technology and our kids! Today on the podcast, we are interviewing Dr. Devorah Heitner who has a PhD in Media/Technology and Society, is a parent, author, and screentime expert. She brings a lot of passion to this topic and answers all our questions with a new perspective surrounding social media, devices, and screentime when it comes to our kids!

Every family will have a different take on screentime. Instead of judging others for their comfort zones and boundaries, Dr. Devorah encourages us to talk about screentime with friends and family to see the ways other families approach the use of tech in their homes. Dr. Devorah gives us her insight on wearable devices that have gained a lot of popularity with younger kiddos. We also ask the question “when is it the right time to give my child a cell phone?” Many factors go into this answer and Dr. Devorah breaks them down for us.

Most importantly, we need to mentor our children on how to conduct themselves online and on their devices. Having the hard conversations about the content they view and conversations they have with their peers will help lead them in the right direction. There is no blueprint, but Dr. Devorah does give us a lot of insight into things we should discuss and think about before giving our children access to being online and devices.