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Prioritizing your family’s mental health in the new year
As you look ahead, ask yourself what are some things that you and your family can do to feel your best for 2025? The new year is a perfect time to prioritize mental health. From building healthier habits to creating a circle of support, there are small steps you can take now that will add up to big changes throughout the year. To help you get started, we’ve put together realistic ways to help prioritize your family’s mental health. How to make mental health a priority Set realistic expectations. Try not to put pressure on yourself to do it all perfectly. It’s simply not realistic to expect yourself to go to the gym every day, be the most patient parent 100% of the time, or to have a spotless home 24/7. Don’t try to change everything overnight. Start with small, achievable goals and celebrate your small wins. Find moments of movement. Can you tap into ways to make exercise a little more fun for the whole family? What types of movement do you most enjoy? Can you create a playlist and have a dance party at home? Want to gather friends or family and head to the ice skating rink or the bowling alley? Can you bundle up and take a nature hike or prepare your garden for the season ahead? If you make movement more enjoyable, you’re likely to stick with it and feel better both physically and mentally. Get outside when you can. The colder temperatures can make getting outside much more difficult but, if you can, try to get some fresh air first thing in the morning. This one habit can make a big difference in how you feel and can be especially beneficial for those who are impacted by the changing seasons. Prioritize sleep. Getting enough sleep is essential to our physical and mental health. It allows our bodies and minds to recharge, supports our immune system, helps with emotional regulation, and boosts cognitive functionality. To get your best night’s rest, try keeping a regular schedule, put away screens at least two hours before bed, make your room a dark, cool space, and try calming activities before sleep, like taking a bath, journaling, or meditating. Take tech breaks. We know that this one isn’t easy, but try setting realistic limits on how much time you spend on your phone, in front of your computer, or streaming TV shows. Our devices are designed to keep us hooked, so consider setting app time limits (especially for those never-ending social media scroll sessions) to help you out. Using technology isn’t a bad thing, but try to prioritize offline activities and connections with those around you. Create a calming space. Is there a spot in your home where you can go to relax? Whether it’s a cozy reading chair, your bed, or a kitchen nook, identify a space where you can unwind. Try to clear out any clutter and add special touches. These can include essential oils for a little aromatherapy, relaxing music, a plant, plush pillows, art that makes you happy, books you enjoy, or photos of those you love. You can use this space to have mindful moments with breathing exercises, journaling, or whatever feels good for you. Learn to say no. From taking on extra work projects to volunteering at your child’s school, it can be tempting to try and do it all. But if your to-do list is never-ending, try delegating tasks to other family members or co-workers and declining requests to take on more. It can be difficult to say no sometimes, but it’s important to take care of yourself and prioritize accomplishing what matters most to you. Ask for support. If you or someone in your family could use more support, consider reaching out to a therapist or a coach. A mental health professional can help you to better understand and process complex emotions, while giving you tools to help you feel your best. The mental health of you and those around you matters so much. The new year offers an opportunity for a fresh start in which you prioritize your well-being. Remember to ask for support from those around you and offer yourself some grace for it all to look perfectly imperfect.How online life shapes youth brain development before 25
The entry into adulthood is typically marked by turning 18, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the mind is fully mature. The prefrontal cortex of the brain—responsible for our cognitive control, stress response, and executive function—isn’t all grown up until age 25. This means that childhood and adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Its progress can be hindered, though, by a variety of environmental factors like nutrition, drugs, illness, toxins, and yes, online experiences. How life online influences brain development When we encounter various stimuli in our lives, from a cute baby’s smile to the sting of a bee, various receptors in our brain begin to learn when something is pleasurable vs. painful. Over time, we form strong neural pathways that encourage us to seek out more of what feels good versus what hurts us. However, these pleasure/pain reactions aren’t limited to things we can touch. Digital experiences can have the same type of impact on our brains. Each time our kids pick up their phones or open TikTok, they’re presented with bright colors, noisy notifications, and videos that are curated to their tastes—or intentionally designed to make them feel a specific emotion. I’ll do a deep dive into how this works in a future article, but at a top level, this screen time plays a significant role in building and altering neural pathways by delivering a sense of reward or pleasure. These pathways are responsible for things like attention, memory recall, and emotional regulation. It happens to adults, too. Have you ever caught yourself picking up your phone to check for notifications even when you know you didn’t hear a ping or feel a buzz? That’s your brain seeking a hit of dopamine, the chemical that is released when we experience something pleasurable. Does all screen time impact brain development? Of course, there are many good aspects of our kids having access to the internet, including educational resources, easy communication with loved ones, and exposure to other people and cultures. But extended exposure to blue light from screens (even if it’s from schoolwork!) can make it harder for kids to fall and stay asleep. This lack of sleep can negatively impact the health of kids’ brains and bodies—plus make it harder to pay attention in school. Can internet use hurt kids' brains in the long term? We’re still learning what the long-term effects of the internet may be on developing brains. Right now, we are seeing some negative impacts on older kids and teens' decision-making abilities, attention span, and ability to switch between different tasks (aka cognitive flexibility). And even positive online interactions—like talking with friends and family—may not engage our brains in as many healthy ways as face-to-face chats and activities do. Luckily, though, neural pathways aren’t set in stone. We can strengthen and weaken our neural pathways over time by changing our behavior. If you notice that your child is displaying signs of screen addiction or is struggling to balance family, school, and gaming with friends, it’s not too late to make healthy changes. Support your child's healthy brain development The answer isn’t to ban kids from using all digital devices—they’re essential for school and preparing to work and live in a connected world. It’s essential, though, that kids grow up knowing how to balance their online and offline lives. Doing so will help them create the right skill sets (and neural pathways!) to be a healthy adult. Here are a few tips to make that happen: Create a screen time balance and healthy digital media boundaries for the whole family. Be aware of what your kids are consuming online. Conversation is invaluable, but you can also rely on the assistance of apps that clue you in to possible in-game cyberbullying or excessive screen time. Encourage screen time use for educational content instead of social media and games. When screen time requires school-age kids to use their brain in a variety of ways, versus scrolling, it can support positive cognitive growth. Build offline hobbies and experiences that the whole family can enjoy together. Work on being a good digital role model—a little less screen time and scrolling on social media can help everyone’s brain health, no matter their age. My goal here—and in future brain health articles I’ll publish on DigitalParenthood.com—is to help you feel empowered about supporting your kids’ healthy development in an online world. If you’re worried and have questions, though, you can always visit ourAsk an Expert section for more advice, or connect with other parents in our discussion forum.Ask Me Anything: TECHWISE with Dr. Scott Kollins
We’ve all heard the buzz about device use and social media impacting our kids' wellness and mental health. Despite the research and news reports, experts are still working to determine whether this digital world is helpful, harmful, or both. That’s why we’re launching a study to explore how kids' digital habits, including social media and online games, connect to their mental wellness, physical activity, and sleep. Hear more about this important research and how you can get involved by joining our event! To join the study, visitaura.com/techwise When:January 30, 2024, 1pm-2pm EST Where: RSVP to the remote live event here!Dialing back phones in schools: should we or shouldn’t we? 🎥
Kate Dias’ and Keri Rodrigues’ advice on how schools should approach regulating cell phones to keep parents and students happy. You can’t put in a K-12 policy because what’s right in kindergarten is not right in twelfth grade. Michael Preston, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, sat down with Kate Dias, President of the Connecticut Education Association, and Keri Rodrigues, Co-Founder and President of the National Parents Union at our NYC Digital Parenthood Summit to offer schools, parents, and students guidance on regulating on-campus cell phone use. It’s commonly debated whether phones in schools are a distraction, impede academic performance, and increase bullying. While teachers may lean towards banning devices completely, parents and students are not convinced—so how can schools make everyone happy? Here’s 5 key takeaways from our panelists In schools, decision-making must be inclusive Teachers, parents, and students must all understand why a decision is being made, what practices make sense, and recognize that different grades require different age-appropriate solutions. In cell phone situations, kids are rarely ever consulted, but it’s important to bring both parents and students into the conversation. The “all-or-nothing” approach to phones in schools doesn’t work What works for a kindergartener will not work for a middle schooler and what works for a middle schooler will not work for a twelfth grader. Families also don’t look like they did 50 years ago and some students may hold more household responsibilities than others. Schools must recognize these factors and ask students how they can support their unique circumstances. Successful policies take time Dias’ middle school did not just drop a policy on day one and hope for the best. They took time to work with families and kids to get answers for what they were doing, why they were doing it, and the problem they were trying to solve. Kids acknowledged that they were having challenges, getting aggressive, and not communicating well. Since the school maintained open conversations, families understood what was going to happen when the program finally did begin. The key concern is about safety According to the National Parents Union, 89% of American families are supportive of devices in schools in order to maintain these connections. Many parents view cell phones as communication tools to find out where their children are, what they’re doing, and to be able to contact them at any time. The harsh American reality is that school shootings are an ongoing danger, so parents cannot just be expected to be comfortable putting these communication tools aside. By maintaining open conversations, schools, parents, and students can find solutions that give everyone peace of mind. Devices in classrooms can lead to more productive methods of education Over the last 190 years of US education, Americans have become comfortable with the “antiquated model” of delivering education: 1 teacher lecturing 20-30 kids at once. According to a Stanford report, although educators were originally worried that students would cheat using AI tools like ChatGBT, some schools have come to endorse policies around educational use of AI. As a result, schools have opened a realm of opportunities, like generating reading assignments or coaching students in writing. As technology continues to evolve, we should consider how it can innovate and improve education, rather than just focusing on the negative. Watch the full panel here Parents, what else do you want to learn more about raising a connected generation? Post your thoughts below!
