Episode 14: Kids and Screens, Pondering Digital Tech From a Few Angles – Part Two

Conversation continued from Part One … here

Screen time is a big topic. The world has become increasingly digital and parents are trying to make caring and thoughtful decisions amidst many sources of advice, often contrary to one another. This is the first part of our conversation, thinking through and pondering our own experiences and we would love you to join us! We were thrilled to be joined at the “table” by Missy Willis of the podcast and blog Let ‘em Go Barefoot. Missy is a long-time unschooling parent, a former special education teacher and now the co-author of Life Unschooled, A Guide to Living and Learning Without School. She has a wealth of experience and wisdom that she humbly and helpfully shares. Enjoy! 

We Discuss:

Can gaming in fact strengthen cognitive processes?

How being in a place of joy or flow can really accelerate learning and integrate learning

Using gaming as a way to check out or cope with something deeper – when it can it be helpful 

That it’s easier for kids to be open if they are experiencing something uncomfortable or overloading related to technology if they feel they will still have choices 

Big emotions – could games be an opportunity to practice those and feel those out in a safe space? But maybe dysregulating at times for other kids?

The feedback loop that naturally happens when kids get to practice their “big feelings” and find out what is tolerated by other kids or peers and what important learning that is 

Young children and screens – what do we think?

How children’s TV can actually be a springboard to all sorts of other activity, learning and creativity 

Bringing in technology as a tool in uncomfortable and sensory overloading situations, noting societal judgement about that

Neurodivergence and screens – tapping into various ways of looking at things 

That we can bring in more joy and connection and leaning toward what our kids are into rather than going straight to taking away

The polarity that is sometimes drawn between outdoor time and technology 

The importance and beauty of human connection and sensory input for young children and how they are likely to naturally seek those out, hopefully with parents present and undistracted

Social media, peers and teens  – the relevance of relationships to family established in earlier years to draw back to 

The feeling of wanting to reel things back in through control as parents and what we might do instead

Being on the “same side” as our kids and figuring out the challenges of social media 

Time. 🙂 We can slow down and think it through 

Resources:

Let ‘em Go Barefoot podcast, blog and community – Missy Willis

Psychology Today, Peter Gray article 

Stories of an Unschooling Family article by Sue Elvis

A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century; Evolution and the Challenges of Human Life, Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein

Hold Onto Your Kids: Why Parents Need  to Matter More Than Peers – Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate 

Dr. Gabor Mate article, excerpt from A Postscript from the Digital Age, The Digital Revolution Bent out of Shape 

 * Photo by Missy Willis