Announcement!

A new perk for paying subscribers

Short version: Along with my friend Dr. Emily Weinstein, I’m launching Tech Without Stress, a video course for parents of pre-teens and teens about how to navigate kids’ technology use — and paying Techno Sapiens subscribers get 50% off!

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Happy new year, techno sapiens!

Before having kids, I was a big fan of new years resolutions. My now-husband and I would plop down on the couch, freshly filled water bottles in hand (new year, newly hydrated us!), and map out our goals for the year: trips we were going to take, habits we were going to adopt, people we were going to see. I’d make plans to do yoga, to meditate, to put down my phone, to go visit my brother in Denver and, while I was at it, do a nice, long solo hike through Rocky Mountain National Park.

Now, as we enter the new year, I find myself making plans like go through the pile of crayons in that drawer and throw away the partially-chewed ones and finally figure out if my child is allergic to pine nuts. Things have changed.

And yet, there is something about starting a new year that motivates us. In psychology, it’s call the fresh start effect—after a “temporal landmark” (e.g. new years day), we’re more likely to chase down our goals, to try something new, to push past the fear and doubt.

So, now that it’s 2024, I’m finally feeling ready (and excited! and scared!) to share something new I’ve been working on with all my best Internet friends (that’s you).

Introducing…Tech Without Stress

You’ve likely gathered from my friendly appearances in your inbox every week (hi! hello!) that I care a lot about getting practical, research-backed information to parents. I’ve spent the last few years testing new ways to break outside of the “academia bubble” (see: this newsletter) to get parents the answers they need to questions about technology and their kids.

With this in mind, my friend (and academic crush) Dr. Emily Weinstein¹ and I teamed up to create Tech Without Stress to help parents navigate raising kids in the digital age.²³ And now, our very first online course is live! It’s designed for parents of pre-teens and teens (ages 10-17), and is self-paced, with 30 videos (each 3-5 minutes long).⁴ We cover everything from managing smartphone use, to setting rules for social media, to navigating sexting, pornography, and video games.

What are techno sapiens saying about the course?

A few of our fellow techno sapiens very kindly offered to review the course and provide feedback (thank you!), and here’s some of what they had to say:

This course really helped me as a parent. It gave me practical tips on managing screen time for my kids, dealing with and validating their emotions, and preparing them for social media. It's not just advice; it's like having a friend guide you through the challenges of parenting in the digital age. Highly recommend!

It's so quick and the videos are easy to digest. Even if you just click around to the topics that interest you, it'll be worth it!

Excellent videos and fun to watch. Would definitely recommend the course.

These are really great! They are engaging, non-judgy, perfect length and they are packed with great info without being too much/dense. Excellent delivery of such important info…

It’s science-based and well-researched.

My biggest challenge [before the course] was HOW to speak to my teens. I am looking forward to using some of the ideas in these videos to progress resolving some of the conflict around social media our family is experiencing.

This is the course that every parent needs right now to effectively guide our kids on the use of tech.

[My biggest challenge before the course was] concerns about video game usage. I felt concerned that my son was spending too much time on the games. I was focusing only on what other activities may have been displaced by the game time, but I was minimizing the impacts of the social interactions with his friends and out of town cousins. Your comment "Would I rather have him watching TV by himself or gaming with his friends?" really hit home.

This course is a fantastic explainer on what to do -- and not to do -- when introducing your kids to tech and teaching them to be good digital citizens. It's practical, and has great resources to go along with easy to follow, short, videos.

My biggest tech parenting challenge is regulating the use of tech in my family…I felt so out of control, and ineffective. However, with this course, I have been given tools on how to approach these problems. I love that at the core of every strategy is communication and building positive relationships.

A few FAQs

Who is the Tech Without Stress course for?

It’s designed for parents of pre-teens and teens (roughly ages 10-17). However, our pilot testing indicates that parents of slightly younger pre-teens (ages 8-9) found it helpful, too, as they look forward to the next stage of tech parenting. [And if you’re the parent of a much younger child, but you really want to get ahead on planning for smartphones and social media, no judgement here.]

How do I know if I’ll like it?

If you’d like to get a sense of the types of videos included in the course, here’s a preview:

And here’s a sample of one of our worksheets (Setting Your Screen Time Plan).

If you buy the course and don’t end up liking it, just let me know, and you’ll get a full refund.

Can I listen instead of watch?

You can! For on-the-go listening, just download the Kajabi app to your phone after purchasing the course and sign in using your course login info.

What topics do you cover?

Some of the topics we cover are:

• How to talk to teens about sexting

• Tech addiction and warning signs

• Getting through cyberbullying and digital drama

• Essential study skills & digital distractions

• Helping teens cope with intense feelings

• Non-screen ways to build self-esteem

• How to talk to teens about porn

Here’s a full outline of all 30 videos.