Articles

Get started with Carrots&Cake: Take back control of screen time and help your child build healthy habits. Carrots&Cake is quick and easy to set up.  Step 1 - Download the app Download Carrots&Cake on your child’s device. Enjoy a 14-day free trial, no hassles, and no credit cards. Step 2 - Create your account Use […]

What do kids get up to on screens? How much time do they spend on devices? Are the apps they use child safe? How will our kids develop healthy screen time skills?

More than two million educational apps populate the iOS App Store. Finding the perfect one to enhance your child's learning is a daunting task. While many apps offer exceptional educational value, others fall short. In this article, we guide you through the Top 10 Educational Apps for Kids that deliver on their promise to boost […]

Discover the top 6 iPhone parental control apps 2023 and learn how to create healthy digital habits for your kids. Compare features, price, ratings and more!

Are my kids spending too much time online? How do I monitor screen activity? What are the ‘must try’ apps? Why does my child throw a fit when screen time ends? When parents have questions, they want answers. They seek definitive explanations. If the topic is screen time and devices, parents want clear cut recommendations […]

Dr. Gwenyth Jackaway, Ph.D.Media Expert A great mind in the history of Western philosophy warned about the new medium of communication. It will make our minds lazy, he cautioned.  People will come to be dependent upon it and will lose the ability to learn without it as a crutch.  What was this ‘dangerous’ new tool?  […]

The brain is the best place to start when thinking about the healthy use of screens.  Both the prefrontal cortex AND dopamine pleasure pathway are important.  Prefrontal cortex This is the part of the brain which helps us handle impulses and urges.  Children’s pre-frontal cortexes are not fully developed. This part of the brain grows […]

High Dopamine Activities, HDA, is a term coined by Dr. Clifford Sussman, MD a child and adolescent psychiatrist and psychotherapist based in Washington, DC. HDAs are activities where dopamine is available instantly - instant  gratification - AND continuously. They are problematic when done excessively.  The brain gets tired with the high flow of dopamine and […]

Playing video games and surfing the internet results in dopamine being released by the presynaptic neuron into the synapse where it's received by the receptors on the surface of the postsynaptic neuron.  This is the part of the brain that transmits pleasure. It is the same pathway that is present when someone becomes intoxicated with […]

When raising kids, a lot of parents draw inspiration by thinking back to how their parents raised them and doing things similarly (or completely opposite!)  But with technology, that usual route of comparison disappears. Navigating a new technological terrain calls for new parenting techniques. One option some parents try is called a Screen Time Contract. […]