Publications Resources

supporting The Harms of screen time

If you read nothing else, the following two will suffice. Excellent, well documented analyses.

(The rest of the resources are in alphabetical order.)

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less for Each Other

Sherry Turkle, PhD, 2017

Electronic communities are distancing people from each other.  Alone Together describes the impact technology has on relationships, and on how people understand privacy, community, intimacy, and solitude.

The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age

Teresa Barker, 2014

Wall Street Journal Best Non-Fiction Pick; Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year

Clinical psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair takes an in-depth look at how the Internet and the digital revolution are profoundly changing childhood and family dynamics and offers solutions parents can use to successfully shepherd their children through the technological wilderness.

Children, Adolescents, and the Media

Victor C. Stratsburger & Barbara Jan Wilson, 2013

Provides a comprehensive, research-oriented overview of how the media impact the lives of children and adolescents in modern society. The approach is grounded in a developmental perspective, focusing on how young people of different ages and levels of cognitive, emotional, and social development interact with the media. Incorporating the most up-to-date research available, the authors target areas most controversial and at the heart of debates about the media and public health―equipping students to approach the media as critical consumers.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Neil Postman, 2005

Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media, it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.

Endangering Minds: Why Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It

Jane M. Healy, 1999

The most valuable book on television’s effects on children. Dr. Healy has a doctorate in educational psychology and more than thirty years of teaching experience, including mothering three sons. Though Dr. Healy writes well, her book is more than 350 pages long and perhaps more appealing to scholars than to parents and average citizens. The bibliography is invaluable.

Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television

Jerry Mander, 1978

A total departure from previous writing about television, this book is the first ever to advocate that the medium is not reformable. Its problems are inherent in the technology itself and are so dangerous – to personal health and sanity, to the environment, and to democratic processes – that TV ought to be eliminated forever.

The Future of Us

Jay Asher

“A clever, timely story that will attract any teen with a Facebook account.”
– Booklist, starred review

The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life

Marie Winn 2002

How does the passive act of watching television and other electronic media — regardless of their content — affect a developing child’s relationship to the real world? Focusing on this crucial question, Marie Winn takes a compelling look at television’s impact on children and the family. Winn’s classic study has been extensively updated to address the new media landscape, including new sections on: computers, video games, the VCR, the V-Chip and other control devices, TV programming for babies, television and physical health, and gaining control of your TV.

The Unplugged Family Activity Book

Rachel Jepson Wolf, June 2020

Get ready for kid-approved ideas that celebrate the great outdoors year-round! Whether you’re building forts or making fresh cider, there’s something for every kid and every season. What might unfold if we put away our devices for an hour, a day, or even longer? What adventures await when we press pause on technology? The Unplugged Family Activity Book invites you and your loved ones to connect, create, and celebrate all year long.

Unplugged Play: Toddler

Bobbi Connor, 2020

“Every parent ought to have this… [A] feast of unplugged family favorites, forgotten and new.” – Penelope Leach, PhD, psychologist and author of Your Baby and Child

Unplugged Play: Preschool

Bobbi Connor, 2020

A note to parents: Play matters! Technology has its place, but these unplugged games are designed to stretch the imagination, spark creativity, build strong bodies, and forge deeper connections with family and friends. Here you will find outdoor games and indoor games, games to play solo and games to play with others, arts and crafts, songs and rhymes, playdates and party favorites––even instant activities to do at the kitchen table while dinner’s cooking. All games are preschooler-tested and approved.