The Screentime Solution

Book excerpt: A judgment-free guide for parents who want to better understand and balance family screentime in the digital age. Author Emily Cherkin—aka The Screentime Consultant—has written a compelling and necessary book about parenting in the modern digital age. Unlike any previous generation, children’s excessive screen use today at home and at school impacts mental health and family relationships. Parents have concerns about the amount of time children spend on devices and want to do better. They’re just not sure what to do or where to start. In The Screentime Solution, Emily teaches parents to become “tech-intentional”: using screen-based technologies to enhance, nurture, and align with family values while avoiding, delaying, or limiting screentime that interferes with healthy mental, physical, cognitive, and emotional development. With humor, empathy, and experience, Emily invites parents to • become tech-intentional, without feeling judged, shamed, or blamed; • implement her research-supported, developmentally appropriate tools to find screentime balance; and • build a movement around tech-intentionality (this is good for everyone— children and adults alike). The Screentime Solution will remain useful even as technology changes because being tech-intentional is an approach that can—and should—remain a constant.