The Screen Smart Podcast Alex Forrest, Jay Lowrance

On the final episode of season 1, Alex and Jay sit down with Angela Santomero, the creator of the popular television shows Blue's Clues, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, and Super Why! Angela has a new book out called Preschool Clues: Raising Smart, Inspired, and Engaged Kids in a Screen-Filled World. In the episode we discuss how she came up with the ideas for her television shows, why parents shouldn't feel guilty for letting their kids have screen time, how to make good media choices for your kids that reinforce good values, and her recommendations for deciding how much screen time your kids should have.

On Episode 15 we welcome Matt McKee from Circle with Disney. Matt has a background both in ministry and as a tech entrepreneur and now describes himself simply as “just another guy trying to make a difference.” He’s a speaker, consultant, and author who also serves as VP of Business Development for Circle with Disney, a device that helps manage and monitor the Internet on a Wi-Fi network, and an app that does the same thing on mobile devices.

On episode 14 we talk with Chris McKenna about the danger of porn and how to help your kids deal with it. After working in the business world and then in student ministry, Chris became Educational Resource Manager for Covenant Eyes, an Internet Safety and Accountability Company. In 2015 he created Protect Young Eyes as a way to equip and encourage parents and students to use technology responsibly. Now, hundreds and hundreds of hours later, Chris’ research has helped countless families around the country.

On Episode 13 we welcome NPR's Anya Kamenetz to talk about her book, The Art of Screen Time. Anya Kamenetz is an education correspondent for NPR and has written about technology and education for years. In this episode we talk about the lack of research when it comes to children and screens/media, and how you can appropriately balance screen time and your family.

We're glad to welcome Debbie Reber of TiLT Parenting for Episode 12 of The Screen Smart Podcast.
Debbie is a New York Times bestselling author and the founder of TiLT Parenting, a website, top podcast, and social media community for parents who are raising differently-wired children. Her new book, Differently Wired: Raising an Exceptional Child in a Conventional World, comes out in June 2018.
Our conversation with Debbie includes:

* What it means to be differently wired or "neurodiverse" and how many children can be described this way (you might be shocked!).
* Whether the increasing number of diagnoses is related to greater awareness or to issues related to technology.
* How the Reber family manages technology with their differently-wired teenager, and how that has evolved over time.
* Why she is not usually in favor of banning technology and how she suggests parents handle contentious issues and situations.
* How she helps her son learn to self regulate screen time.

On this episode we talk with Joe Ryan, the education coordinator for the South Carolina Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. We talk to Joe about keeping kids safe online, and he tells us how bridge the gap between parents and kids when it comes to the Internet and social media use. Other topics covered include sexting and cyberbullying.