Category: Family

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Navigating Parenting in a Digital Age: Earnest Insights from the 2025 Common Sense Summit

by earnestmomblog ♥ 2 Comments

My oldest and I were recently invited to sit on a panel for the Common Sense Summit on Kids and Families. The event took place in San Francisco last week. We discussed parenthood in this digital time. We sat with resident Aura Chief Medical Officer, Scott Kollins; the amazing Editor in Chief for Parent Magazine, Grace Bastidas; and Jill Murphy, the Chief Content Officer for Common Sense Media. To say we sat among giants in the tech field would be an understatement of this 2-day event. This summit gave stage to many voices that need to be heard. These included youth voices, policymakers, and experts in adolescence and brain science. It allowed tech companies that need to hear them to listen.

The Common Sense Summit was organized by Common Sense Media (CSM), it is a parent tech support website. I have referenced it as a tool I use to navigate movie, book, and game content. I do this before my children view, read, or play them. This was the second annual event for CSM, and it was eye-opening for me; here are my earnest takeaways.

Parents feel lonely while navigating this space. I received an overwhelming outpouring of appreciation from fellow blog moms, podcasters, and women in technology. They thanked me for speaking up for parents in this space. I met so many parents. They feel like technology and their children are an incredible demand on them. There are few or no resources available for them. The research is being done and stats are rolling in; this tech world is more dangerous than we thought. I do not want to take away from the distinct advantages that technology can bring to our world. It can even enhance learning and experiences for children. However, the mass unregulated content that is available today is causing harm and trauma to children. This is no light issue. As a mom to three, I favor the “less is best” policy when it comes to technology. This policy, according to this conference, landed my family in the “outlier” category. Wherever parents stand on when and how to give tech/screens to their children, the common feeling is this is hard. We are going at it alone.

The next takeaway is that tech companies care, but it feels surface-level. This conference was sold out, and from Apple to YouTube to Anthropic, companies were here to listen. Unfortunately, I struggle to see the action behind this listening. As a parent, it feels as though tech companies will say the right things. However, our children are still left vulnerable in areas that are growing so quickly. It feels impossible to keep up with them. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is an eye-opening book. It discusses the real toll that “phone-based childhoods” are taking on our next generations (a read I highly recommend). All the while, big tech companies are adding more and more ways to have apps hidden on phones. These apps are masked as safe. More content is available for young eyes before their brains are ready. However, one of the stars that stood out to me from this conference was Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest. He shared the levels that Pinterest has gone to in order to keep it safe for children. As a result, it is not like other social media. I always felt that Pinterest was my ‘safe’ app, the one I open and just dream—well, no wonder! They worked hard to make it. They kept it that way even when they lost monetarily to start. All social media companies should follow suit!

California is leading the US in policy to keep children safe on technology. New York follows closely. My earnest kiddo and I left with an urgent need to take action. We decided to write to our legislators and state representatives. We want to call on them to create laws for safer online environments for children and youth. This includes safety on phones, social media, and with AI. Think globally, act locally, right?! We are writing our letters today. We are asking for policy change. You can too if this resonates with you. Google your state representatives and get their emails. Ask them what they are doing to keep our most vulnerable populations safe in this unregulated tech world. Luckily, we have a state representative’s office less than a mile away, and we will be hand delivering his letter.

The last takeaway was this: I am so grateful that we waited until 14 years old before getting our oldest a phone. We have no plan for any social media (other than Pinterest) before 18. I did my own research, Grace exclaimed on our panel that I have “read actual research papers”. I explored any and all I could find about screen time, social media, and tech on growing brains. Years ago, when phones entered our parent radar, there was as little as I could find. All signs pointed to wait. Wait to give phones. Wait for social media. Wait until you have done research on how technology like this is affecting our children. What we did in our home seemed like an anomaly to many we met with, yet inspired many more. It is okay to wait and learn. It is safer to avoid handing over the tiniest computer. This can lead to unsafe spaces accessible in their pockets.

It was such an honor to grace the same stage as Hillary Clinton, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, and Geoffrey Canada. The greater honor was the chance to speak to parents. They are struggling with deciding when and how to introduce AI, phones, and social media to their children. To share our story and have it resonate with so many, I was truly blessed. Be sure to check out the Common Sense Summit on Kids and Families next year. I am certain it will only get better from here! You can also view this year’s panels by searching #CSSUMMIT25.

Stay tuned. I will share what we did before introducing a personal mobile smart phone to our 14 year old soon.

x. earnest mom

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Technically Too Techie.

by earnestmomblog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Photo credit: canva.com

I do not know about you, but when I hear the term “digital age,” I freeze. I am comfortable at my level of smart phone, and my air pods that somehow know when I am listening to a podcast on my phone even when I am on my laptop, while being synced to both.  I like that my car tells me when to turn and I enjoy those heated seats in our Erie winters!  What I am not prepared for is the impact technology is having on my children.

The more studies I see of how 5G is affecting our bodies, how our brains are reacting to the constant stream of dopamine engaged content, and the endless scrolling that I know I am guilty of, it makes me long for the days of dumb phones and waiting to talk to friends face to face.  

Common Sense Media recently released their 2025 Common Sense Census (click here to access report) and the stats are definitely a bit alarming to a parent in this time of tech.  The study’s main takeaways were, children are acquiring and using screens for longer periods and at earlier ages; parent supervision is quite low (17% of parents reporting viewing Tik Toks with their kids); and AI is making its way into their hands more than I thought, considering I just called my husband today because I could not figure out how to work chatGPT.

Seems, much to my dismay, technology is not only here to stay but is growing and evolving so rapidly that I can barely keep up!  With a teen, a tween and a video game interested 7 year old, I have all my mommy-senses working overtime to navigate this brave new world.  Maybe you feel the same?  Here are some resources that I have found invaluable as we navigate these new waters as a family.

Aura is my first recommendation.  Recently, with much research, thought, conversations and mandatory high school papers, we got our 14 year old a phone.  Aura has been my peace of mind with this transition.  Aura is intelligent, digital safety for the whole family.  We have Aura on our teen’s phone, and all computers in the house.  I get daily and weekly reports of online activity and a new feature called “Balance” that is giving me in depth information of my teens actions, words and behavior online.  I am parenting confidently with this app in my pocket (literally and figuratively).  

Another incredible tool we use are websites that help to navigate movies, television, books, games, podcasts and apps.  In this world of instant entertainment, Common Sense Media is so helpful.  With ratings given for all of these categories, they also break down with a rating out of ten, content from sexual to violence to really know what you and your children could be seeing and or hearing.  They also offer positive content and the reviews/ratings include parent and kids comments to really get a well rounded feel for the content.  For movies alone, we also like to use Plugged In.  Plugged In offers similar rating breakdowns with a christian lens, also offering follow up questions or discussion points to help digest movies, games and books with your kids.

Digital Parenthood is a one stop hub for parents.  With support for gaming, cyber bullying, internet safety, online predators and even asking an expert, the Digital Parenthood offers a wide array of help in many spaces including forums where parents are discussing what they are going through to connect with other parents too.  Digital Parenthood is so robust for supporting parents navigating all of the things that come with digital exposure for our children, I cannot recommend it enough.

A podcast that keeps me updated and informed of laws, dangers and news with kids in tech is Scrolling 2 Death.  With weekly podcasts and daily social media posts, podcaster Nicky Reisberg shines light on the dark goings on in the media and our children.  She has been a voice for her children dealing with online access in schools, and a safe place to share with parents their experiences and how social media and tech are affecting their children.  Definitely worth liking and subscribing, even though the news can be on the serious side – it is worth listening to and knowing what children are going through in real time.

Whether it is children online at school, in your home or on the bus ride the online world feels like the wild, wild west with our kids on the front lines.  Lots of discussions about online safety, when to look away if they are being exposed to dangerous materials and how to get help for anything has to be a constant today.  As their brains are still growing, I feel the push ever more to keep updated and relevant to what is going on in the digital world.  I hope some of these resources can help get you some tools to use while keeping your kids safe in the online world.

x. earnest mom.

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The Hands of a Parent

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The Hands of a Parent

Recently, I was walking with my 7-year-old, hand in hand.  As I was getting us from our parking spot to our destination I started to think about the action of our hands in parenting.  Our hands are essential in the process of raising children, from birth until they move out—they remain involved throughout our parenting journey.

Breaking it down into ages and development levels, our parenting approaches can be hands on or hand off if we choose.  From helping hands to cheering hands, let’s explore how we HAND-le parenting our little humans.

Helping Hands start from birth, your baby is born and right into your hands when they arrive.  When holding a baby, they are completely and beautifully dependent on us.  From holding bottles or breast, diapers or burp cloths, baby’s contact is holding hands all through those early formative months.  We stroke a cheek, wipe a bottom and lift to hold them heart to heart with us in comfort and love.  Cradling and holding are so intimate and build the parent-child deep connections in their growing brains.

The next stage is Hand Over Hand.  Baby begins to crawl and toddle, causing us to follow closely and help them to learn the safety and dangers of the world around them, keeping our hands over their hands.  Leading them directly by touch and our words we teach them as they explore their surroundings. 

The third stage is Holding Hands.  Just as I was earlier with my little guy, holding hands allows us to be side by side with our child.  We are holding to one hand, still guiding and leading but also allowing them to lead in small spurts as well.  We are still tethered to them hand in hand so when they misread safety signals, we are still there to stop to prevent danger but still a bit more freedom.  I love the image of side by side, next to one another, still intimate yet slightly more independent.

By the fourth stage we find ourselves with Guiding Hands.  We have led and shown over and over, creating neural pathways of routine, expectations and a life of relationships, working and playing.  As we guide our children, we gradually let go, and they may push us away a bit.  They will begin the stages of, “You do not have to walk me to the bus anymore, just watch from the porch,” or “Please do not hug me in front of my friends.”  We are quite hands off here, but we are close enough that when we may need to catch them, hold them or show them a safe way – we still can.

Parenting in the next stage is Waving Hands.  We are on the sidelines, allowing harmless mistakes where we can still scaffold and advise before leaving home.  We are coaching, up until now we have helped them develop an array of tools to use when facing life, but they are still in our home, so we can still come together and review and give help on an ongoing basis.  I always remind my children in the younger years, there is nothing they can do to make me love them less – nothing.  Building a foundation of trust knowing they can come to me with anything at all.  As we watch our children at this age, almost adult, we will get glimpses of the man or woman they are becoming and yet we can still offer tips and coaching as they grow – waving to remind them “I am here!”

The final stage is Cheering Hands.  Here our children are leaving home, finding their own path and growing their own family.  A parent’s role continues throughout their life, but during this period, they can observe and support from the sidelines – get ready to cheer!  Cheer them through post-secondary education or into careers, starting a family and becoming the man or woman they were called to be.  As a child, I remember my games, plays, and presentations at school, with two working parents, my grandparents were always in the audience – cheering me, they were also cheering my parents.  Celebration happens so much in adult milestones, graduations, job offers, big moves, showers, weddings, etc.  This is a time where parents get to celebrate and watch the hard work of those early blurry days pan out before their eyes.

Our hands play such an important role in parenting, and it is essential for children to rely on them. Whether it is the touch of a baby’s bitty fingers, holding hands while crossing a street, or applauding in support, our hands contribute significantly to our children’s development. In my indigenous culture, it is believed that every action has an impact for the next seven generations, which highlights the long-term role of parental actions – our hands.  You mama, you will be known by your 5-times-great-grandchild by what your hands do today.  How beautiful.