Helping Families Safely Navigate the Online World: A Conversation with Two Digital Wellness Experts
At what age should my child get their own smartphone? How can I help my child limit their time spent online? What should I know about AI and children?
The pervasive use of digital devices among children is prompting questions like these from parents and caregivers. Tablets, phones, and other devices that are a part of everyday life for young people provide entertainment and connection, as well as threats to well-being. Research shows that excessive use of digital devices — and the content they engage with — can have harmful effects on a young person’s well-being. Higher daily screen time is associated with increased symptoms of anxiety and depression.
To help families navigate the online world and establish healthy digital habits, Culture Reframed is offering a free webinar, “Keeping Tech in Check,” on July 31, 2025. The webinar will highlight the role of screens on the social and emotional well-being of young people. Moderated by Dr. Mandy Sanchez of Culture Reframed, the discussion will feature digital wellness experts Julia Storm of ReConnect and Adrienne Principe of Turning Life On.
For Julia, ReConnect combines her professional background in film, television, and digital media with her experience as a parent. She started the company in 2016, when she worked at a children’s media company and her children were three and five. The emergence of smart mobile technologies prompted rapid changes that caught her eye. “I could see with my own 5-year-old that he would become immediately hooked to anything on the iPad and have a very uncharacteristic emotional reaction when it was time to get off,” she said. “In speaking with other parents at the time, it became clear to me that people were looking for guidance, so I decided to do the research myself and begin sharing my findings.”
Over time, that evolved into her digital wellness and screen time coaching work with parents and children of all ages. “As I learned more, I realized that one has to take into account the different stages of child development as well as the very different types of brains that kids have. There is no one-size-fits-all solution,” Julia says.
As a parent of four children — from 12 to 18 years old — Adrienne has also seen technology and digital devices permeate daily life. With a background in communication and certification in child and adolescent coaching, she brings a unique combination of skills to her community-based work at Turning Life On. The organization started with a goal of uniting Adrienne’s Massachusetts community around delaying smartphones until children were in at least eighth grade, and providing education and opportunities for parents to share their struggles with tech.
“When we first started in 2017, there was research being done on how smartphones were impacting kids, but it wasn’t as conclusive or widely accepted as it is today,” she says. “As time went on, we realized two things. One, parents who had given their children phones were struggling the most and needed our support. Two, other communities were desperate to duplicate our movement locally.”
Reflecting growing demand from parents and caregivers for strategies and tools, Turning Life On now focuses on supporting digital wellness advocates in communities across the country. “People are using social media to communicate very personal information,” Adrienne says. “Many people’s personal lives are now public. That’s concerning.”
In the Q&A that follows, Julia and Adrienne emphasize the importance of open communication about digital wellness and share how they manage screen time in their homes as parents of tweens and teens. They invite you to bring your own questions about digital wellness to the July 31 webinar. Register here to join the conversation!
How does your organization help parents and caregivers set digital boundaries while acknowledging that screens and tech are a part of most people’s everyday lives?
Adrienne: Our work stems from two main principles: How does technology impact our health, and how do parents employ values-based parenting? We have spent years analyzing the research so we clearly understand not only how kids are developing at each age and what kids need to maximize healthy development, but also how technology impacts six areas of health. We use that research to put forth suggestions and recommendations for kids and families. Let’s be honest, this isn’t just about how kids are using technology. It’s about how technology is impacting every single one of us (parents and grandparents included).
Let’s be honest, this isn’t just about how kids are using technology. It’s about how technology is impacting every single one of us (parents and grandparents included).
Parenting in the digital world is overwhelming. We believe in empowering parents to employ values-based parenting. What does this mean? It means being intentional about identifying family values and using everyday opportunities to teach those values to children. With this framework, parents can strengthen their relationships with their children and be a sounding board when things go wrong. This type of parenting helps parents not only guide their children in the digital world but can also be applied to other areas of parenting.
Julia: Unless you live “off grid,” there is no way to avoid the fact that the online world and digital technologies are an essential part of culture and social life for kids. Coming to terms with this reality is essential for parents. Understandably, many parents wish things looked different, but we need to work with the reality we’ve been dealt while steering things in a healthier direction for generations to come. My philosophy is that parents need to see themselves as allies and mentors for their kids. Openness and curiosity about the online world generate thoughtful conversation and set the stage for media literacy skills to emerge. It is possible to set healthy limits and boundaries while also making space for the positive aspects of the online world.
It is possible to set healthy limits and boundaries while also making space for the positive aspects of the online world.
In the constantly changing world of technology and digital media, how does your organization provide an adaptable framework that helps parents and caregivers?
Adrienne: Regardless of how the digital world changes or what apps or content children are exposed to, we should always approach our use and our responses through the lens of our health and our values. For example, if children are spending more than five hours a day online, that naturally comes at the expense of time spent on other activities like sleeping, playing outside, and communicating with others. If these activities are replaced with scrolling on social media or watching YouTube, development and health suffer.
In terms of protecting our values, social media companies are in business not to connect us but to make money. The more time we spend online, the more money they make. That’s why social media algorithms are able to quickly identify what types of content keep us scrolling. They then feed us that content over and over. Before we know it, our time has been hijacked, most likely to the detriment of our health. Social media companies have long used social psychology to keep us hooked. Like buttons, view counts, and comments create feedback loops that we crave. Each time we post, we take a risk that will either be rewarded (or not) with external validation. This creates an online culture in which we are a commodity.
If technology, old or new, is hijacking our health or values, we need to make changes in our homes and advocate for changes in our schools and communities.
A strong word of caution as technology and AI advance at unprecedented rates: We did not have the research we needed to determine the impact of social media or pocket-sized computers (smartphones) on children. We exposed an entire generation to what amounted to a psychological experiment driven by the interests of greedy social media companies that use behavioral science to manipulate their “users.” And we’ve done tremendous harm. We need to learn from our mistakes now before we do even more damage. My suggestion is to proceed with extreme caution when it comes to new technologies, especially AI. We do not recommend exposing children to AI, especially chatbots, until we understand the risks.
Julia: Again, stepping in as your child’s ally and mentor is the best way to go. Technology will continue to evolve, but with an open-minded attitude, parents and kids can explore these developments together. Kids can often teach parents about technologies, while parents teach kids to question and assess media in a smart and critical way. It’s a lovely give and take.
Technology will continue to evolve, but with an open-minded attitude, parents and kids can explore these developments together. Kids can often teach parents about technologies, while parents teach kids to question and assess media in a smart and critical way. It’s a lovely give and take.
How do you manage the use of digital technology in your own households? What behaviors or tools help you manage your personal use?
Julia: I have two sons, now 13 and 15 years old. My older teen now has a phone, while my 13-year-old will be getting his this year in eighth grade. The way technology is used in our home has evolved. As they get older, more and more of their lives are intertwined with the online world, and as such, the limits placed have evolved. I put a premium on connection and open curious communication about their online lives. I’ve found that doing so makes space for me to guide them, while allowing them to find their own agency in the online world. That said, there are certain boundaries that we all adhere to: No screens in the bedroom overnight, no screens at our meals, and no screen use for short car rides (other than music or podcasts). We keep a charging dock in the kitchen where devices get parked to charge when not in use. Both my boys still have some time limits placed on apps that we’ve decided on together, and most of their apps go into “sleep mode” about one hour before bed.
Adrienne: Thankfully, my teenagers are pretty good at managing their own screen time now. But this has not always been the case. I began talking about the impacts of technology long before I ever handed them a device. I delayed phones until they were 13, and even then, they didn’t have access to an internet browser, games, or social media on their devices. When they went to high school, I gave them more access gradually, one app at a time.
We identified our family values, and I repeat family mottos — “Be kind, work hard. People come first. Be smart, be safe, be sweet.” — often. We have a family media plan. Everyone in our family uses screen time limits and downtime. Because we have taught our kids that phones are addictive and tech is manipulative and have prepared them from a young age to manage tech so it doesn’t manage them, they are more aware and make better choices. Do they make mistakes? Of course, they’re kids! Do I make mistakes? I sure do. But we will try again tomorrow.
Here are some examples of those better choices: My 17-year-old asked me to change his downtime from 9 p.m.-7 a.m. to 9 p.m.-7:30 a.m. because he was getting on social media in the morning when he should have been getting prepared for his day. He also made a decision to delete social media and games from his phone for the summer because he only has two more summers before he heads off to college, and he doesn’t want to waste them on his phone. When my 15-year-old learned that the Chinese government was monitoring TikTok and was serving educational videos to local users in China (quite different from what he was seeing here), he deleted the app from his phone.
How does a grassroots approach help Turning Life On empower communities to promote digital wellness?
Adrienne: We know that every family and every community is different. We talk with our advocates to understand what challenges they face, and then we tailor our support to match those needs. Our support is not prescriptive. We connect advocates and provide resources and playbooks so they feel empowered to talk about technology and lead a movement. We build them up and amplify their voices, and they do the rest. When communities talk about technology, people start to make better choices. And those choices — to use less technology, set up screen time limits, put the phone away during dinner — make families stronger. And stronger families make stronger communities!
In your work as a digital wellness educator, how do you encourage families to take a balanced approach with children to manage screen time?
Julia: I try to take into account each family’s situation. I don’t believe there is one perfect way to parent in the digital age. Every child’s brain is built differently, different ages call for different limits, and the needs of the parent also need to be taken into account. Because of this, I try to encourage parents to take a few moments to take an inventory of the most important things they need to see their child do day to day to show that they are thriving.
So for example, in my family, I want to make sure my kids move their bodies regularly. Have a hobby of some kind, see friends IRL on a regular basis, get enough sleep, help out with chores, keep up with their school work, have strong mental health, and have a strong connection to us as parents. If my kids are hitting all of these markers, then I know they are basically OK. That doesn’t mean we don’t create some time and content limits for media; it just means that as a parent, I can trust that they are thriving. If I see a child who is barely hitting these markers of health and they are spending many hours on devices, now we have a problem we need to address.
It can feel particularly stressful to stay on top of screen time for teenagers. I always tell parents, if you can only do the bare minimum, I would opt for keeping the devices out of the room overnight and away from the dinner table.
Register here to join our live webinar, “Keeping Tech in Check,” with Julia and Adrienne on July 31, 2025:
