Parenting Videos

Parenting in the Digital Age: Finding a Healthy Balance (2021)

TikTok, Snapchat, Fortnite, YouTube and more ... Technology is a big part of our kids’ world! Keeping up can be challenging, but a positive and well-informed approach can have a big impact on a child’s future and habits. Learn how to help kids develop a balanced and healthy use of technology from an early age and keep this up through the secondary school years and beyond.

Dave Eisenmann, Director of Instructional Technology & Media Services for Minnetonka Public Schools, was joined by Mathew Meyers, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist at Traverse Counseling & Consulting, GBC, for this webinar.

Screen Time and Student Well-Being: Raising Tech Healthy Kids (2020)

Watch a 20 minute talk about managing screen time and setting family guidelines around technology at home given by Dave Eisenmann, Director of Instructional Technology & Media Services.

LIKE logo

LIKE Documentary Virtual Screening & Discussion Panel

In 2020 over 1,000 K-12 parents and all Minnetonka grade 6-12 students saw this powerful film about the very real effects social media can have on our lives. Even parents of elementary students found the film incredibly valuable to see as they set up guidelines for their children around the use of personal technology tools. LIKE captures interviews with students, parents, psychologists, doctors and experts from a wide-range of fields and perspectives.

You can view three trailers of the film at bit.ly/LikeTrailer1, bit.ly/LikeTrailer2 and bit.ly/LikeTrailer3. To learn more or watch on your own, visit thelikemovie.com. Here is the handout that accompanied the film, Tips for Managing Social Media Use.

Watch Max Stossel's 45 minute recorded student assembly and/or 60 minute parent presentation here. He's the narrator of the LIKE film and the Head of Education for the Center for Humane Technology. It's almost the identical content, just not professionally produced like the documentary which included interviews and graphics, etc.

Parenting in the Digital Age Webinar: Finding a Healthy Balance Parts I & II (2017)

Watch recordings from two 2017 webinars with Mathew Meyers, a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist specializing in family relationships and healthy technology use including video game addiction and Dave Eisenmann, Director of Instructional Technology & Media Services for Minnetonka Public Schools, as they discuss Parenting in the Digital Age: Finding a Healthy Balance. Get tips and ideas for maintaining open dialog about technology and understand the significant role you play in helping youth be responsible and safe in today’s high-tech world.

You can watch the videos in their entirety by starting with the first topic below or skip ahead to specific topics of your choice:

Part I, 53 minutes, audio recording below: Screen Time & Balance, Attention & Focus, Addiction, Parenting & Modeling, Monitoring & Filtering, and Age Recommendations
Part II, 54 minutes below: Parenting Strategies and Tips, Digital Footprints, Cyberbullying, and Pornography and Sexting

Part I: Screen Time & Balance

(Approximately 9 minutes, 3:50 - 12:50)

What is the difference between entertainment and educational screen time?
Apple Screen Time a Huge Win for Everyone, Including Parents!
How do you meeting obligations at home and at school?
Can your children work within the parameters you set, and how to manage this without screaming and yelling.
How to set limits and create natural consequences, and allow failure.
Screen time becomes problematic when it replaces real world relationships and real world passions.
Put technology to bed at night, not in the bedroom.
Just three taps to see your app use in past 24 hours or past week.

Part I: Attention & Focus

(Approximately 4 minutes, 12:50 - 16:50)

Two types of attention:
- Reactive attention system- help our kids limit this
- Focused attention system- homework stretches these "muscles." Help kids build capacity increase their focused attention time.
K-12 school years are the opportune time to learn to focus
Help kids put boundaries in place. We need decide to put boundaries in place, not let the technology set the boundaries for us.
Apple Screen Time a Huge Win for Everyone, Including Parents!

Part I: Addiction

(Approximately 4 minutes, 16:50 - 21:00)

No tech at the dinner table or in the car: Be where your feet are.
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
When are kids addicted? When kids become deceptive about their use of technology. When they don't know what to do with their free time or are jittery. If they pull back from face to face relationships. If they aren't meeting their obligations at home and school.
When you feel that technology has taken over, reach out for support. Contact a counselor (see Student Well Being Resources)
Apple Screen Time a Huge Win for Everyone, Including Parents!

Part I: Parenting & Modeling

(Approximately 9.5 minutes, 21:00 - 32:20)

Dealing with different rules due to divorce/separate homes: need to have courageous conversations. Start with vision for family to get on same page. Support rules of parents rather than confuse kids by disagreement. - Contact a counselor (see Student Well Being Resources)
Common Sense Media's Parental Concerns section
How do I set a good example in the amount of time/timing of usage I spend with digital devices in the home? Being present.
It's OK to have different rules for parents than kids, such as moving ratings.
Be where your feet are.
Just three taps to see your app use in past 24 hours or past week.
Cutting back on digital distractions
Your phone is a pocket slot machine
Apple Screen Time a Huge Win for Everyone, Including Parents!
Lack of depth and authenticity in online relationships such as online gaming. Help your kids be known and belong.

Part I: Monitoring & Filtering

(Approximately 7.5 minutes, 32:20 - 39:40)

Be transparent.
If you want to use technology, this is how it's going to be. You are the parent and are a steward of their belongings.
Open DNS home Internet WiFi filter
Cellular, instead of using Curbi as mentioned in video:

Part I: Age Recommendations

Part I: Implementing Changes

Part II: Parenting Strategies & Tips

(Approximately 15 minutes, 4:50 - 20:38)

Lead with curiosity. Powerful Conversations with Kids: Start with "What if.." vs. "Have you..?"
Natural consequences. If it becomes a power struggle, step back.
Kids are going to make mistakes. Use them as teachable moments with unconditional love. Be careful to separate judgment and shame.
Trust and check, provide oversight. How Much Should Parents Snoop?
Our job is to parent, not be their best friend. Say no and create solid boundaries. As you see mastery, give more responsibility.
Apple Screen Time a Huge Win for Everyone, Including Parents!
See Part I: Age Recommendations

Part II: Digital Footprints

Part II: Cyberbullying

(Approximately 9 minutes, 27:19 - 36:12)

Providing some oversight- what are your kids posting, seeing?
Don't overreact and judge.
Avoid anonymous tools and posts, don't give those sites an audience.
How do you represent yourself and interact with others online?
Parent modeling- how are you interacting with others online?
Use technology with empathy, compassion, and integrity. Remember the golden rule.

Part II: Pornography & Sexting

(Approximately 11 minutes, 36:12 - 47:47)

Snapchat
Hidden apps to hide photos
Only digitize things that Grandma would approve--nothing digital is private.
Privacy vs. secrecy
Sexting
Seeking validation
See Part I: Filtering
Side effects of pornography- impact on relationships, objectifies and places physical connection above emotional
Secretive taboo topic gives it enormous power when hidden--kids are learning about sex from the Internet. Take shame out of the equation. Powerful Conversations with Kids: Start with "What if.." vs. "Have you..?"