Natalie

This weekend I was hit hard by a disturbing article in The New York Times (NYT) about kids targeted by sexual predators via direct chats and in multiplayer video game chat rooms. In a chat, people with bad intentions can pretend to be any age. They can say they are a friend-of-a-friend as a way to enter the chat. Children are susceptible because they are unsuspecting, and by the time they may realize something is not right, shame and threats may already be in place to keep them quiet and scared.  People have been reporting problems much more frequently than just a few years ago. According to The New York Times article: “Six years ago, a little over 50 reports of the crimes, commonly known as “sextortion,” were referred to the federally designated clearinghouse in [...]

Recent world events are causing a lot of anxiety - particularly with children and young adults. Screenagers posted an informative article, featured below, about how to determine what action should be taken in regards to anxiety. If you have a loved one struggling with anxiety, please contact Tamara Ancona, MA, LPC at (678) 297-0708 for an evaluation, and to discuss the best treatment options available. Anxious feelings are understandably very high right now in youth given COVID-19. My daughter is a senior in high school and gets waves of many emotions right now--such as anxious feelings related to deciding on a college or sad feelings thinking about all the things she will miss from not being able to go back to her school. All kids have stories right now of things they are fearing, regretting, [...]

Children and Screens cordially invites you, your friends and your network to join our series of three virtual workshops for parents featuring leading interdisciplinary experts on the topic of “Children and Screens During COVID-19” via Zoom. Parents can register through our website www.childrenandscreens.com. Hear from the country's leading pediatricians, child psychiatrists, child psychologists, neuroscientists, educators, and parenting experts to learn: The "Ask the Experts" series will focus on different developmental age groups, beginning with young children on April 28th at 12:00-1:30 EDT, moderated by Dimitri Christakis, pediatrician and editor in chief of the leading medical/science journal JAMA Pediatrics. Other panelists include:  John S. Hutton, Attending Pediatrician, Director of the Reading & Literacy Discovery Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Brandon T. McDaniel, Research Scientist at Parkview Mirro Center for Research & Innovation Ellen Wartella, Professor of Communication Studies, [...]

While we all learn to cope with living a digital life during this pandemic it brings up questions about the effects all the screen time will have on us and our futures. Screenagers explores the this in the article below: Understandably most young people are on screens a ton right now. Thank goodness there are all sorts of great things made possible via screen time. But, what are the potential costs of loads of certain screen time activities on their brain health and mood? Are there ways to do changes in tech time that might help them feel better — even while keeping the same total amount of screen time? Clifford Sussman, MD, is a psychiatrist for children and adolescents in Washington, DC, and he is well known for his work in treating those with [...]

As adults we frequently discuss the things we're stressed about. But what about our kids? Particularly teens and tweens? Screenagers tackles how to talk to this age group about their stress and ways to help them cope. Teens and tweens often tell me how they talk with each other about their stress levels. The other day I passed out an anonymous survey for reactions from teens to Screenagers NEXT CHAPTER, and one high schooler wrote: "It was really helpful to hear someone other than teens talk about teen stress." When people get asked to rank their level of perceived stress, teens on average report higher levels than adults. There are many reasons teens report stress, including academic-related stress and stress from relationships with peers and family. There is also the stress of trying to feel [...]