By Michaela Gordoni
The Amazing Generation co-author and health and science journalist Catherine Price is on a mission to make chilren’s lives more colorful without screens.
Price wrote the book for kids and teens with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, who wrote The Anxious Generation for adults.
Price said their aim is to “help kids and adults live meaningful, fulfilling, fun lives.”
The two key ways they suggest helping children stay off screens are to give them responsibilities and real-life hobbies.
Price recommends giving kids tasks they can do independently. This could mean chores, making their own lunch, errands or walking to school by themselves.
Related: Screen Time is Creating an Anxious Generation, Studies Say
“Chances are it’s going to boost their confidence and be fun and give them a skill that they’ll be able to use going forward,” said Price.
These activities can have a mutual benefit for kids and parents and reduce anxiety for both.
Figure out which off-screen activities your children love and give them ways to explore their hobbies. For example, if your kid loves the outdoors, take them hiking or get them involved in a group where they can explore outside regularly.
A mom of three teens let her kids transform their garage into a workout room.
“Now she’s got this group of teen boys coming and lifting weights in her garage every afternoon,” Price described.
Price added that young people have a “developmentally appropriate desire to spend more time with their friends in private,”
If parents can help create those opportunities without screens, then it’s better for everyone.
Price said her book is “Written specifically for kids and tweens — and relevant whether or not they already have smartphones, tablets, or social media accounts — The Amazing Generation is designed to inspire young readers to join the growing rebellion of young people who are choosing to stand up to Big Tech and fill their lives with REAL friendship, freedom and fun.”
She explained, “Its goal is to convince your kids to decide for themselves to protect their brains by delaying their own access to smartphones and social media, standing up for their right to a phone-free school day, taking on more real world challenges, and not letting ‘technology wizards’ steal their lives from them, literally from beneath their noses. (Translation: it talks to your kids for you!)”
Haidt said it gives kids confidence to make good decisions for themselves.
“It’s not just a book about what NOT to do — it’s a bold, optimistic, and practical guide that inspires kids to become their most authentic, confident and adventurous self,” he said.
The Amazing Generation is currently available wherever books are sold.
Read Next: How a Social Media Detox Can Improve Mental, Physical Health
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