Pixel Parenting

Three weeks of summer, and my kids still haven't started any of the homework their teachers recommended. Hopping from one camp to the next, my schedule is chaos. Here's the messy story, and what finally fixed it 🧵

habits. Start with one. Julianna Lorenzen, co-founder of Healthy Screen Habits: 1️⃣ Phone bedtime 2️⃣ Purpose + time check 3️⃣ Grandma rule 4️⃣ Phones away with people 5️⃣ No phones in bedrooms Pick the one that scares you most. Try it this week. buff.ly/tHQlQMf

46 minutes. "Parents spend 46 minutes total on cybersecurity with their kid from birth to 18." Chad Rychlewski, co-author of Cyber Smart Parenting. Three things to know before school starts: 1️⃣ Treat photos like a newspaper. 2️⃣ "It's not IF, it's WHEN." 3️⃣ Set controls WITH them, not on them. 🎧 buff.ly/SLP7TjL

There's a screen-time framework most parents have never heard of. 3-6-9-12. Tisseron, 2008. Still directionally right. What's updated since: the smartphone and social media floor moved up. Haidt (2024), the Surgeon General, and the AAP support delay. Many recommend no smartphone before high school, no social media before 16. Full breakdown: buff.ly/JmMN6QG

The grandma rule, from Julianna Lorenzen: "If you wouldn't want grandma to see it, don't send it." Works for kids and adults. No dopamine talk needed. Plus 4 more habits in the episode: ✅ Phone bedtime ✅ Purpose + time check ✅ Phones away with people ✅ No phones in bedrooms buff.ly/n0Ov9vJ

We don't get addicted to phones. "We get addicted to escaping discomfort through seeking distraction." Dino Ambrosi (Project Reboot). 70% of teens at top schools say they're addicted. 🎧 buff.ly/cfpu7MP

The strongest moments with our kids aren't the birthday parties. They're the car rides. The backpack chaos. The 90 seconds between activities. New Pixel Parenting with Amy Briggs, Founder & CEO of Aviva: buff.ly/etVJEBT

"My child wants to play Roblox. Is that okay?" I hear this question from parents all the time. My new podcast guest says it's the wrong place to start 💡 I sit down with Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov @digiparentcoach, founder of DigitalParentingCoach.com and @Roblox first head of parental advocacy, and we get very practical: 1️⃣ What Roblox actually is (a platform with millions of games, not one game) 2️⃣ How to sound curious instead of suspicious, so your kid shares with you their world 3️⃣ The 5 W's every parent can keep in mind 4️⃣ What to say when something feels off Her line I keep thinking about: "There's no app that can replace a conversation. None." And if you've never had one of these talks? "You can start tomorrow. You can truly start tomorrow." 🎧 buff.ly/NLOmoSj #DigitalParenting #Roblox #OnlineSafety #ParentingTips #ScreenTime #ParentingPodcast #RaisingKidsToday

Humans are cognitive misers. "We're lazy thinkers. We want the easiest answer to any question." Dr. Rachel Kowert (@drkowert). 40 to 50 years of data: violent game use ↑. Youth violent crime ↓. 🎧 buff.ly/H9dMu5Q

All games teach. "Whether or not it's what you want your kid to learn is a different story, but all games teach." Dr. Kelli Dunlap. The question isn't "how much." It's "what are they getting out of this?" 🎧 Pixel Parenting episode with Dr. Kelli Dunlap buff.ly/KXcuTVN

Use the game as a conversation starter. "The healthiest thing you can do with your kids is communicate. Process together what you're going through. Use the game as a conversation starter." Dr. Celeste Sangiorgio, clinical psychologist + game researcher. 🎧 buff.ly/ZcNyNlD

Can AI be a real friend? We asked kids ages 7 to 10. One answered: "A friend that tries to correct you. Because then you'll never learn if it just goes along with it." Same kid on Siri: "Utility seemed like Siri's friendship line. Just utility." 🎧 Pixel Parenting episode with Dr. Iris Oved (Paradox Lab) and 7-to-10-year-olds: buff.ly/WG1jPsY

I built a little thing to take the summer homework tug-of-war off your plate: a personalized plan for your child's break, ready to print in minutes. You tell it what to practice and how much (reading, the summer workbook, writing, math, whatever fits your family) and it lays out the whole summer, day by day. It runs on a star system, and the stars reward what's actually hard for your child, not the stuff they'd breeze through anyway. Effort, not easy wins. My own kids are already collecting theirs. And here's the part I had the most fun making... if you want, you can turn the stars into a personalized collectible card deck, just for them. Made for your child. Not a template. 👉 Try it: buff.ly/zBVfesz (25% off this week with code SUMMER26) #summerlearning #parentingtips #positiveparenting #elementaryschool #homeschool #raisingreaders #summerroutine #momlife #dadlife #backtoschool #gamification