Parenting Generation Screen: Guiding Your Kids to Be Wise in a Digital World

by Jonathan McKee

Overview

What Every Parent Needs to Know about Screens and Their Kids

Maybe your kids are like many others―glued to their smartphones, social media, and streaming entertainment. While we may be aware that excessive screen time, especially social media, isn’t healthy, how do we teach young kids and teens to become screenwise?

Prioritizing connection over correction, Parenting Generation Screen is a guide for parents that will equip you with key questions and conversations to help you process screen limits with and for your kids. You’ll learn how to dialogue in meaningful ways about social media, entertainment, and screen time so your children can learn to be wise in the digital world.

Jonathan McKee speaks worldwide and writes about technology and social media for families―and has three kids of his own. In Parenting Generation Screen, he addresses such questions as:

• At what age should my child get a phone or screen?
• Can my child have a phone in their bedroom?
• How does social media affect my teenager’s mental health and sleep?
• What dangers are really lurking on social media?
• How can moms and dads best use parental controls?

In this extremely practical book, you’ll gain confidence and find the answers you need to set boundaries, guide your kids, and help them navigate the digital landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646070251
Publisher:	Focus on the Family
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Jonathan McKee is the author of over 25 books including the brand new "Teen's Guide to Face-to-Face Connections in a Screen-to-Screen World"; and the best seller, "The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket." An expert on youth culture, Jonathan speaks to parents and leaders worldwide. You can read more from Jonathan on his website BecomingScreenWise.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 They Don't Tell You This Stuff 7

Everything you wish you'd known before you bought your kids their first screen

Chapter 2 Connection before Correction 13

How to replace overreaction with interaction

Chapter 3 What Age? 27

The perfect time to give your kids a screen (and what to do if you already did)

Chapter 4 "Mom, Can I Have My Phone in My Bedroom?" 49

The link between screens, sleep loss, and depression…and what you can do about it

Chapter 5 The Unintended Effects of Social Media 67

And how to build your kids' self-esteem

Chapter 6 The Thing about Screen Time 87

Helping your kids learn to make wise screen-time choices

Chapter 7 "I See You" 109

Teaching your kids to recognize predatory behaviors and spot Creepy Basement Guy

Chapter 8 Where Parental Controls Matter 127

The settings that help keep your kids safe and block distractions

Chapter 9 When They Break the Rules 153

Correcting without destroying connection

Chapter 10 Putting It into Practice 167

Real-world stories from moms and dads parenting Generation Screen

Chapter 11 Time for Pizza 185

Sharing your plan for becoming a screenwise family

Notes 797

What People are Saying About This

Rob Chagdes

As a parent, we can often feel uninformed and overwhelmed when it comes to the world of smart phones and social media. Jonathan has given us yet another valuable resource, weaving compelling information with practical action steps and biblical wisdom. This is the handbook parents have been searching for to provide help navigating the challenges of parenting Generation Screen.

Meg Meeker

Improper use of screens is the most serious threat to our kids' emotional, intellectual and physical health in this decade. Every parent knows that screens can be devastating for kids but have no idea how to set boundaries that kids will actually honor. We are afraid. In Parenting Generation Screen, Jonathan gives advice that not only dissipates that fear but teaches us step-by-step how to set those boundaries. Most extraordinary is that his method actually helps kids grow closer to their parents. No parent in the 20th Century can afford not to read this book.

Andrew McCourt

The content of the book will equip and guide you as parents in a digital world. I believe that Jonathan’s book needs to be in every parent’s hand as it will make you thrive in helping your kids make wise decisions.

Kara Powell

Jonathan McKee offers a gift all 21st century parents need—practical tips of what to say and do that convert technology from a barrier that keeps families apart to a bridge that draws us closer together.

Doug Fields

In a world where the average age kids get their first smartphone is just 10-years-old, parents are struggling to keep up with their children’s interaction with screens. Parenting Generation Screen gives moms and dads the tools they need, not only to provide healthy screen limits, but also to engage their kids in ongoing conversations about becoming screen-wise.

J. Warner Wallace

No generation of young people has ever been so impacted by technology. It may be years before we understand the true impact of screen devices on our kids. In the meantime, Jonathan McKee—my go-to youth expert—has written a powerful and concise primer to help you navigate the world of screens. Parenting Generation Screen will help you engage your kids, understand their challenges, and set proper boundaries. If you’ve got young people in your life, Parenting Generation Screen is yet another essential resource from Jonathan McKee.

Jim Burns

This is the book for helping parents create a media safe home and the book to help you lead your kids toward making good decisions about their digital life. In my opinion, Jonathan McKee is one of the leading experts in the world of guiding our kids through this important part of their life. This will be my go-to book.

Greg Alderman

I’m so thankful that Jonathan wrote this book! It’s a literal guide to navigating cultural differences created by screens. Not only is it a great resource for parents, but I would especially encourage grandparents to read it as well.

David R. Smith

If your kid is about to graduate grade school or high school—or is anywhere in be-tween—then you need Jonathan McKee’s Parenting Generation Screen. McKee jams practical wisdom on every page and even offers discussion questions at the end of each chapter that will jumpstart conversations between you and your teens. Get this book—and get your kid back!

Shaunti Feldhahn

I think I will keep a stack of Jonathan’s Parenting Generation Screen in my car to hand to parents I dialogue with each week . . . because it deals with the exact issues they ask me about: When do I give my kids a phone? Should I let them have it in their bedroom? How much social media is too much? I love the wisdom and practicality Jonathan brings to his books . . . and wish I had this one five to ten years ago!

Jim Daly

Jonathan McKee has become a trusted voice for parents and teens striving to navigate 21st-century culture in wise and discerning ways. In his latest book, he examines screen use and identifies ways families can avoid technology’s biggest stumbling blocks. This is a comprehensive, must-read handbook for any parent whose kids have screens in their hands.

Sean McDowell

Parenting Generation Screen is the book I have been waiting for. As a parent of a high school, junior high, and elementary students, it helped me tremendously to think through reasonable technological boundaries with my kids. I appreciate that Jonathan offers some practical, research-based suggestions, yet he focuses on the importance of relationships. Every parent needs to read this book and discuss it with others.