“Screenagers” documentary is about growing up in the digital age

Even though it’s intended for all, the documentary is filmed from a parent’s perspective. What was very interesting is that the children and adults laughed at different times. Parents laughed at the images of kids being lost in digital worlds. The kids, meanwhile, laughed at the naiveté of the adults. It was the generation gap in real time.

Screen time: A concern for many parents

As a father of two teenagers, I went to the screening because I’m concerned with the amount of time my kids spend looking at screens. I’m not alone.

The department of social services of Banff, Alberta, where I live, organized the screening I attended. You might think that a town famous for outdoor sports and activities might be less impacted by the lure of screens but the truth is, this is a universal problem. To date, over 2,000 communities across the U.S. and Canada have hosted screenings of this documentary.

No matter where you live, you’re likely either dealing with—or going to be dealing with—how to manage your child’s screen time in the future.

Parents are searching for solutions to the screen time problem

After the screening was a panel discussion with a psychologist specialized in mental services and addictions, a child and youth program coordinator, and students. Listening to the panelists and people in attendance, it became clear that there’s a huge gap between how kids and adults perceive this issue. As they state in the documentary, the attempt by parents to deal with the issue often “turns to messy struggles” within families.

The documentary provided some solutions, especially on how to talk to my kids about my concerns. The most beneficial takeaway for me was that the documentary helped me make sense of the many different ways I feel uncomfortable when confronting this issue. Watching Screenagers helped me clarify why I am concerned.

For example, Dr. Sherry Turkle commented on the effects that the constant state of multi-tasking have on our kids in this digital world: “What is extraordinary about the studies on multitasking is that even though you are doing worst at everything you are doing, you feel like you are doing better and better…”

I have always “felt” that it wasn’t good for my kids to be on Snapchat as they do their homework, but now I know why. I have clear facts I can share, clear words to express myself, and therefore I am clear on how to discuss the issue with my kids.

Resources for parents

I did find the film’s accompanying website very useful. I especially appreciated the articles from Dr. Ruston filled with practical suggestions, like how to manage screen time during summer vacation, and this useful Gaming Internet Addiction Test.

How to bring a screening of Screenagers to your community

I highly recommend watching this documentary with your child or teenager. If there are no screenings planned for your area, I recommend looking into how to bring Screenagers to your community. The greatest benefit is that I now share the same information about this worrisome issue with hundreds of other parents in my own community. More importantly, we can now explore solutions together.

To quote Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter: “We can’t just say it’s on the schools. It’s on the parents. We have to do this as a community.”