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When faced with a problem, most of us turn to search engines like Google to find answers. With a world of information at our fingertips, searching up our symptoms when we’re feeling unwell has become a natural next step. If you have an unusually bad headache, or stomach pains that you haven’t had before, a quick search on Google will bring up hundreds of different diagnoses and potential treatments. Some of us may even know that dreaded feeling of scrolling and self-diagnosing the worst-case scenario.

We know that social media and screentime can make an impact on our children’s metal health and safety, both positively and negatively. As caregivers looking out for the children and teens in our lives, it is important to identify ways to protect our children from the negative impacts of social media and screentime. Nearly 70% of parents endorse that parenting is more difficult now than it was 20 years ago, primarily because of social media and technology. While the hard work of protecting children from the harms of technology should not fall solely on parents, here are the things that we can do within our scope of control.

Technology, social media, and screentime seem to become more and more entrenched in our lives and the lives of our children with every passing year. We engage with screens while watching movies or TV, shopping from home, communicating with family and friends from a distance, scrolling on social media, watching or creating videos, working, reading, and for many of our kids, even while doing homework! The use of screens day-to-day has become normal across the United States, at home, in schools, and everywhere in between.

This is a real interview with a parent who has enrolled their son in Camp Baker for 3 years now and is reflecting on the changes that Camp Baker has helped to create in their lives.

Your first step to supporting your child who may be struggling with ADHD or another Disruptive Behavior Disorder, like Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder, is to get a thorough evaluation done by a mental health professional. Comprehensive assessments are the most helpful tool to help identify problem areas, diagnose, and recommend treatment approaches for each individual child and family.