POF 08: 8 Digital Life Skills For Youth

I’m so happy to have my friend and fellow mom, Angela Crocker.   On this episode, Angela and I talk about her newest book, Digital Life Skills for Youth.  Kids age 11-18 have more access to technology than any other generation. We talk about what parents can do to build healthy boundaries and habits around technology.  She shares what danger signs to look out for and when kids should have access.

What about the more ‘diabolical’ world of social media and apps?  Angela gives us a look inside some “Tricky Tactics” where kids can hide content from their parents.

You will learn how to begin navigating the digital world for your kids, even if you don’t know where to start!

About Angela Crocker

Angela Crocker has been called the Ann Landers of digital living, making sense of the online life for thousands of digital citizens. Her expertise includes education technology, digital parenting, online communities, digital decluttering, content planning, and more. Angela works as an author, speaker and educator to help individuals, schools, and businesses navigate the digital life. She is the author of six books including Digital Life Skills for Youth, Declutter Your Data and The Content Planner. To learn more about the book featured on this episode, go to https://angelacrocker.com/digital_life_skills_for_youth/

From the Podcast:

As discussed in the podcast, here is an excerpt from Angela’s book, Digital Life Skills for Youth

“To help parents figure out a healthy amount of screen time, I recommend looking at each youth’s life overall.  Think about one specific youth and consider these questions:

• Is the youth getting an adequate amount (approximately nine hours) of uninterrupted sleep most nights?
• Does the youth have social connections to peers including some close relationships (best friends)?
• Does the youth get an hour or more of exercise each day?
• Is the youth meeting their responsibilities around the home and at school?  Are chores done and homework completed?
• Is the youth attending school on time and prepared for class regularly?
• Is the youth participating in family meals and social occasions?
• Is the youth completing daily hygiene routines? Showers? Flossing?

If the answer is yes to most of these questions, then whatever time the youth has time left over could, in my opinion, be spent on activities they choose whether online or offline.”

Overall, Angela recommends keeping the lines of communication open with your child(ren). Make sure you talk to them about security, appropriate pictures, privacy, their digital footprint and more.

Lastly, give yourself a break!  This topic is new and complicated and sometimes we get it wrong. It’s ok to make mistakes; this is an ever-evolving world and it new to so many of us! 

Thanks for listening!

It means so much to me that you listened to my podcast! If you would like to continue the conversation with me, head on over to www.facebook.com/parenting4connection  With this podcast, my intention is to build a community of parents that can have open and honest conversations about parenting without judgement or criticism.  We have too much of that! I honour each parent and their path towards becoming the best parent they can be. My hope is to inspire more parents to consider the practice of Peaceful Parenting. If you know somebody who would benefit from this message, or would be an awesome addition to our community, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. 

If you want to get my book, The Yelling Cure, and other resources I offer, Please go to www.yellingcurebook.com

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