Screen Addicted Kids: What Parents & Camps Can Do
WITH Michael Jacobus
This podcast is sponsored by SCOPE, an amazing organization that helps to send children from financially disadvantaged families to summer camp. You can learn more about SCOPE online and through social media @supportscope.
My house, I’m sure like yours, is full of technology. Alexa plays our music, phones constantly buzz and beep, and the game system runs for a few hours a day on the weekends. We have two boys who stare at their phones too much and one who can’t wait to do the same. Ugh.
Our boys have managed to keep away from the darker side of tech so far. However, many kids are not as fortunate. Those who cannot control their game playing or online habits need help. Thankfully, Michael Jacobus and his Reset Summer Camp is here to help.
Michael is a life-long, career Camp Director and youth-development specialist. An internationally recognized author, child-development professional and outdoor education guru, Michael founded Reset Summer Camp after witnessing, (within his own family) the dangers and challenges of screen addicted youth.
Michael has assembled a team of unmatched professionals to help him coordinate this effort in the hopes of breaking the cycle of tech addiction and overuse and give our children real-world life skills and tools to build a solid, successful future for themselves.
As a parent of three teen and pre-teen boys, this topic is high on my list of concerns. I hope you’ll get as much out of this conversation with Michael as I did!
GREAT RESOURCES ON Screen Addiction and Tech Overuse FOR PARENTS
Reset Summer Camp offers a wide variety of resources including a tech addiction quiz, pdf, and other resources for families.
One of Michael’s resources is Game Quitters which is led by Cam Adair. You can also watch many of his videos for free on youtube.com.
Dr. Deborah Gilboa, also know as Dr. G, has offered a wide range of materials for parents.
A recent book that has been very helpful for me is Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Getting Us Hooked. The look at brain science, addiction, and how companies hook us to play more and more is a scary part of our reality.
Dr. Michael Gurian of The Gurian Institute has a wide variety of products and research that can be helpful to parents.
And, for a little fun, here’s the link to the Far Side cartoon we talked about.