Digital Detox and Citizenship Resources for Families
Digital Citizenship Books: Essential Resources for Families
The Anxious Generation
THE ACCLAIMED #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER with over two million copies sold A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood. A cultural catalyst for the resulting $17.1 Billion Meta Settlement.
The mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?
In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt (pronounced "height") lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.
Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.
Hooked on Games
A must-read for any parent considering allowing their children to game or seeking more motivation to eliminate time spent on video games. The multi-billion dollar video game industry thrives on creating fun and enticing games that can lead to video game addiction. As addicted gamers indulge in these digital experiences, real life is often neglected, causing their reality to crumble around them.
"Hooked on Games" is authored by Brooke Strickland and Dr. Andrew Doan, MD, PhD, a physician with a research background in neuroscience, who has battled his own video game addiction. Dr. Doan, once an addicted gamer himself, spent over 20,000 hours playing games over nine years. His reckless compulsion transformed him into a version of himself that jeopardized his family, marriage, and career. He utilizes his expertise to educate others on the dangers of video game addiction and to offer hope for those struggling with this issue and their families. Dr. Doan provides essential steps for gaming addicts to achieve recovery, along with screen time resources for families and loved ones to effectively intervene. Without addressing this rapidly growing addiction, our society risks creating a Generation Vidiot, filled with millions who lack the innovation and skills necessary for digital citizenship in the physical world.
Dr. Andrew Doan is a recognized expert in digital media addictions, speaking globally and training over 1,000 mental health providers on this crucial topic. With a Ph.D. in neuroscience and an M.D., his expertise in molecular neuroscience and the vision system offers profound insights into gaming and digital media addictions. Order here now!
Screen Smart Sam
Written my Nicole Rawson, digital detox expert, this read-together book for littles explains the importance of setting screens aside and opting for a screen-free childhood.
Sam loves video games, tablets, and television. But when mysterious Bad Habit Monsters begin encouraging him to spend more and more time on screens, he starts missing out on the people and activities he loves most.
As the monsters grow stronger, Sam learns that too much screen time can affect his mood, behavior, friendships, and daily routines. With the support of his family, Sam embarks on a digital detox journey to build healthy technology habits and discover the rewards of real-world connection.
Screen Smart Sam and the Bad Habit Monsters is a timely and engaging story that helps children understand balance, self-control, family connection, and digital wellness in today's technology-driven world.
Glow Kids
We’ve all seen them: kids hypnotically staring at glowing screens in restaurants, playgrounds, and friends' houses—and the numbers are growing. Like a virtual scourge, these illuminated faces—the Glow Kids—are multiplying. But at what cost? Is this just a harmless indulgence or a fad, akin to a digital hula-hoop? Some argue that glowing screens might even serve as beneficial screen time resources, acting as interactive educational tools for kids.
Don’t believe it.
In Glow Kids, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras explores how technology—specifically, age-inappropriate screen tech with its glowing ubiquity—has profoundly affected the brains of an entire generation. Brain imaging research indicates that engaging with stimulating glowing screens activates the brain’s pleasure center similarly to sex. An increasing body of clinical research links screen tech to disorders such as ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, and even psychosis. Most shockingly, recent studies reveal that excessive screen exposure can neurologically damage a young person’s developing brain in the same way that cocaine addiction can.
Kardaras dives into the sociological, psychological, cultural, and economic factors associated with this global tech epidemic, with one major goal: to examine the impact of our shiny new technology on kids. Glow Kids also includes an opt-out letter and a quiz for parents to assess their children's digital citizenship. Purchase this book via Amazon here.
Reset Your Child's Brain
Proven methods since 2012! Prevent or reset childhood problems. As an increasing numbers of parents grapple with children who are acting out without obvious reason, a digital reset yields proven results. Revved up and irritable, many of these children are diagnosed with ADHD, bipolar illness, autism, or other disorders but don’t respond well to treatment. They are then medicated, often with poor results and unwanted side effects. Based on emerging scientific research and extensive clinical experience, integrative child psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Dunckley has pioneered a four-week program to treat the frequent underlying cause, known as Electronic Screen Syndrome (ESS).
Dr. Dunckley has found that everyday use of interactive screen devices — such as computers, video games, smartphones, and tablets — can easily overstimulate a child’s nervous system, triggering a variety of stubborn symptoms, including those linked to video game addiction. In contrast, she’s discovered that a strict electronic fast single-handedly improves mood, focus, sleep, and behavior, regardless of the child’s diagnosis. This aligns with principles of digital citizenship, as it encourages healthier interactions with technology.
Offered now in this book, this simple intervention can produce a life-changing shift in brain function — all without cost or medication. Dr. Dunckley provides hope for parents who feel that their child has been misdiagnosed or inappropriately medicated, by presenting an alternative explanation for their child’s difficulties and a concrete plan for treating them. Additionally, she shares valuable screen time resources to help families navigate technology use effectively.
Collapse of Parenting
"Dr. Leonard Sax's The Collapse of Parenting should be required reading for all parents."―Dr. Nancy Kehoe, author of Wrestling with Our Inner Angels
In The Collapse of Parenting, internationally acclaimed author Leonard Sax identifies that rising levels of depression and anxiety among young people can be traced to parents abdicating their authority, distracted or unwilling to set firm boundaries with technology. The result is children who lack self-control, who look to their peers and to social media for direction. Sax shows how parents can and must reassert their authority—for example by limiting screen time, by prioritizing the family, and by teaching humility and perspective—to renew their relationships with their children.
In this new edition, completely revised and updated with new stories, new evidence, and new recommendations, Dr. Sax provides concrete guidance for parents seeking to help their children fulfill their potential in the midst of a toxic culture. Drawing on more than thirty years of experience as a family physician and psychologist, along with hundreds of interviews with children, parents, and teachers, Sax offers a blueprint parents can use to help their children thrive in an increasingly broken world.
Who's Raising the Kids?
New October 2022! From a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of commercial marketing on children, a timely investigation into how big tech is hijacking childhood—and what we can do about it.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, digital citizenship was becoming essential as digital technologies had already woven themselves into the fabric of children’s lives. This shift occurred despite a growing body of research detailing the harms of excessive immersion in the unregulated, powerfully seductive, profit-driven world of the “kid-tech” industry and the risks associated with screen time resources.
In Who’s Raising the Kids? Linn—one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of Big Tech and big business on children—explores the roots and consequences of this monumental shift toward a digitized, commercialized childhood, focusing on kids’ values, relationships, and learning. From birth, kids have become lucrative fodder for a range of tech, media, and toy companies, from producers of exploitative games and social media platforms to “educational” technology and branded school curricula of dubious efficacy.
Noting that many Silicon Valley elites wouldn’t dream of exposing their young kids to the very technologies they’ve unleashed on other people’s children, Who’s Raising the Kids? is unique—a highly readable social critique and guide to protecting kids from exploitation by the tech, toy, and entertainment industries. Linn provides a deep and eye-opening dive into exactly how new technologies enable huge conglomerates to transform young children into lifelong consumers by infiltrating their lives and influencing their values, relationships, and learning. She persuasively argues that our digitized-commercialized culture is damaging for kids and families as well as society at large, and maps out what we must do to change course.
Written with humor and compassion, the book concludes with two hopeful chapters—“Resistance Parenting” and “Making a Difference for Everybody’s Kids”—that chart a path for protecting kids from targeting by the tech, toy, and entertainment industries that treat them as lucrative bundles of data and as mini-consumers ripe for exploitation rather than as the children they need to be. This is particularly vital in the context of addressing issues like video game addiction and ensuring that our children’s interactions with technology promote healthy lifestyles.
In preparation for your child accessing the internet, this is essential reading for parents to understand the very real risks children face online. 'The Glass Between Us' serves as a value-based guide for navigating screen-driven challenges, filled with research, stories, interviews, practical tips, conversation starters, and evidence-driven solutions to tackle the complexities of our teens’ digital lives. This book addresses crucial questions about digital citizenship: How can teens develop online habits that promote mental health? Is porn consumption inevitable, or can teens be empowered to reject it? How can we raise teens to value people over pixels? What does it look like to expose and stand against online exploitation? How can we set healthy boundaries around tech? How can we become digital mentors in a screen-driven world? Additionally, it offers valuable screen time resources for parents seeking to combat video game addiction. This book presents a new framework that empowers teens to become digital pioneers, charting new courses that lead them away from the exploitative side of the web and closer to the vision and purpose they desire for their lives. You will learn to inspire teens to place their core values at the forefront of their digital interactions so that their choices online resemble who they are, rather than how they are told to behave. Order here now!
Durability guru and science writer Jenifer Joy Madden reveals how to achieve lasting body, mind, and digital wellness in a world filled with screen time resources. Read this book to: Sharpen your mind, improve your concentration, reduce stress and anxiety, exercise without trying, eat and sleep better, protect your vision and hearing, and live in harmony with your technology. Then help your family do the same with tips for parents at the end of each chapter. Uplifting stories and research-based lessons are enriched with the wisdom of world-renowned durable humans, including Buddhist philosopher Thich Nhat Hanh, Seven Habits author Stephen Covey, and humane tech design pioneer Tristan Harris.
"An all-too-relevant and eminently practical book that offers health strategies in a gadget-packed world.” – Kirkus Reviews. What readers say about How to be a Durable Human: ♥
"Very positive, very helpful, very accessible information for everyone." ♥
"I love the idea of really getting back to our authentic selves and stepping out in a life that shines with purpose." ♥
"I was caught up, engaged, and motivated to take your advice and suggestions and put them into practice." Don’t settle for resilient. Be DURABLE. Your lifespan will thank you.
Additionally, this book addresses important topics like digital citizenship and offers insights into managing video game addiction. Purchase via Amazon today!
This is a heartfelt and beautifully told tale of a regular little girl engaging in seemingly innocent online activities, with a mother who is acutely aware of the risks posed by internet predators, addiction, and mental health issues. However, it only takes one chat during a visit at a friend's house that spirals into many over two years, resulting in devastating consequences for both herself and her parents.
This story emphasizes that even with parents' vigilance, unfortunate events can still happen to our precious children. Jen handled her daughter's situation with care, sensitivity, and wisdom. The inclusion of support networks at the end is a wonderful touch. This is a 'must read' for all parents interested in protecting their little ones, as it highlights the importance of digital citizenship and the reality that such issues can affect anyone.
Purchase this short story, paperback book via Amazon.
Want a comfortable way to talk with your kids about pornography and promote digital citizenship? This newly revised edition of the original bestseller from Defend Young Minds makes that daunting discussion easy! Good Pictures Bad Pictures is a read-aloud story about a mom and dad who explain what pornography is, why it’s dangerous, and how to reject it.
Featuring easy-to-understand science and simple analogies, this internationally-acclaimed book engages young kids to porn-proof their own brains while also addressing the importance of screen time resources.
Parents don’t need to wonder what to say--simply read Good Pictures Bad Pictures to your child and move forward with confidence! You can even use this book before beginning the sex talks! Purchase this book via Amazon.