Articles containing: technology

Media Literacy and Mental Health, featuring Common Sense Media – Shrinking It Down

Today’s young people are spending more time online than previous generations, and many parents and caregivers worry about how social media is affecting their mental health, and emotional and social well-being. Strengthening social media literacy skills can help us all better use media as engaged and informed consumers.

5 Ways To Avoid Becoming A Helicopter Parent As You Send Your Child Off To College

Emily, a college freshman, strolls from her dorm to her biology class and en route, she calls her mother so that she doesn’t appear aimless and lonely as she passes by her peers. She barely notices that almost all them are also on their cell phones.

Being an Emotional Sponge: Supporting Young People Who Are Supporting Friends

Listen to Dr. Gene Beresin and Dr. Ellen Braaten talk more about supporting teens who are supporting friends on our podcast. Tune in below, or search for “Shrinking It Down” wherever you get your podcasts.

Supporting friends who are struggling can be a valuable thing.

Kids Under Surveillance! – Shrinking It Down

Today’s kids and teens are increasingly under surveillance, including by their own schools and parents. In some ways this is nothing new. Adults have always monitored kids for risk.

Shrinking It Down: Home for the Holidays

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Here we are, in the peak of the holiday season. Do you feel joyful? Do you feel down? Are you simply overwhelmed? Whatever it is you’re feeling, it’s okay, and we guarantee you’re not alone.

Living With Technology – Shrinking It Down

Technology. Some days it feels like we can’t live with it, but in today’s world we certainly can’t live without it. And what’s the mental health impact on our kids and teens who seem consumed by their smartphones and other digital media 24/7?

The short answer is: It’s a gray area.

Gaming Disorder – Shrinking It Down

You can also subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, and most podcast apps.

There Are All Sorts of Ways of Making Things Better

Things might seem kind of awful lately.

Every news headline, from every corner of American ideology, feels pretty depressing.  We are subjected to nihilistic rants or apocalyptic predictions.  When do we smile? When our late-night talk-show hosts use our negativity for comedic material.  I’ll admit it.

“You would do it if you loved me.” Teens, Coercive Relationships, and Digital Media

You would have to be completely unplugged to have missed the heightened reports of sexually coercive behavior among celebrities, prominent media figures, and politicians. Indeed, the seemingly sudden explosion of public knowledge of these deplorable actions might lead you to believe that we are encountering a new phenomenon.

Teen Driving Study Reveals “App and Drive” is New Danger Among Teens, New Worry for Parents

BOSTON, August 1, 2016 – Teens have been inundated with messages about the dangers of texting while driving over the past several years—and while this message is still vitally important, texting is not the only danger popping up on their smartphone.