The Art of Screen Time

How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life

By: Anya Kamenetz

Narrated by: Anya Kamenetz

Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Finally: an evidence-based, reassuring guide to what to do about kids and screens, from video games to social media.

Today's babies often make their debut on social media with the very first sonogram. They begin interacting with screens at around 4 months old. But is this good news or bad news? A wonderful opportunity to connect around the world? Or the first step in creating a generation of addled screen zombies?

Many have been quick to declare this the dawn of a neurological and emotional crisis, but solid science on the subject is surprisingly hard to come by. In The Art of Screen Time, Anya Kamenetz - an expert on education and technology, as well as a mother of two young children - takes a refreshingly practical look at the subject. Surveying hundreds of fellow parents on their practices and ideas, and cutting through a thicket of inconclusive studies and overblown claims, she hones a simple message, a riff on Michael Pollan's well-known "food rules": Enjoy Screens. Not too much. Mostly with others.

This brief but powerful dictum forms the backbone of a philosophy that will help parents moderate technology in their children's lives, curb their own anxiety, and create room for a happy, healthy family life with and without screens.

©2018 Anya Kamenetz (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Blending scholarly evidence and the experiences of numerous families, The Art of Screen Time is a well-researched and reassuring guide to raising kids in a world where technology is everywhere." (Danah Boyd, author of It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens)

"How to deal with devices and screens is one of the biggest challenges for today's parents. With The Art of Screen Time, Anya Kamenetz comes to the rescue. Marshalling the latest science, she provides an indispensable guide to helping children-and families-thrive in the digital age." (Arianna Huffington, CEO of Thrive Global)

"A thoughtful, evidence-based guide to technology that reads like having a conversation with a good friend-who also happens to be incredibly smart, honest, and witty....Refreshingly, Kamenetz is a realist and does not condemn technology in the home....[she] sheds a critical, yet supportive light on our relationship with technology...a must-read for any parent." (Booklist)

Tips for Caregivers in the Digital World

The Art of Screen Time by Anya Kamenetz combines her extensive research and her own maternal experiences as she finds answers of how to be a parent in the digital world. As a digital guru yet a worrisome mother, she provides scientific evidence and expresses her own opinions as a mother.
Honestly, it took a few chapters for me to enjoy the book. In the beginning of the book, she touches on controversial subtopics which I suspected it was only part of the marketing strategy. I was finally encouraged to read further as Kamenetz explores the pros and cons of the social, mental, and physical influences of the screen. The screen meaning from phones, computers, tablets, movies, and television. It was quite the rollercoaster to understand which side she was on and her conclusions. However, Kamenetz finally stated her position in the digital dilemma and provided takeaways for the readers.
I recommend this book for not only parents, but caregivers, educators, technology users and even technology non-users. These groups of people will be able to read pages full of reputable references that provide evidence which support both sides of the topic. Meanwhile understand the role of a parent and help guide their child in the digital world today.

Finally! Some rational thinking about screentime

Screens aren't going away, so well-reasoned, well-researched works about how to to live with them healthily (like this one) are essential. Also, Anya, with her background in radio, does a fantastic job of keeping this lively and engaging. A must-listen for any parent!

A well-structured survey for intensive parents

This is good book about an important topic but intractably complex topic. Everything you say about screen time requires context, and the author does a great job of providing that in a way that keeps the reader engaged.

Books that survey available scientific literature and practices, especially when the scientific literature is limited and lacks consensus, run the risk of becoming repetitive or wandering from their stated topic. The Art of Screen Time is well-structured in this regard. The first third or so tells you what you really need to know. Some of it might be obvious or known to most people who would get a book on screen time, but I found enough that was new and interesting to make a real difference in how I think about and approach screen time - both for my daughter, and for myself.

The first half of the book most aligns itself with the "enjoy screens, not too much, mostly together" recommendation, but it does fair service to other perspectives and frameworks. It also alludes to some related themes that are explored a little more in depth later in the book. That structure makes the book feel less like a stretched-out article, as so often happens in non-fiction.

And some of those related topics are pleasant surprises! The author is an expert on technology in education, having covered the industry for NPR, and that fluency shows clearly in those sections. The author is also an expert on motherhood media, and on the intensive parenting experience of a Park Slope-type mother in particular. The emphasis on that population of mothers did not speak to me directly, since I am a father who sees himself in more of a "Captain Fantastic" mode, but I imagine it will ring true for many listeners.

The author does not have as much expertise in sociology or anthropology, but to her credit she generally comes from a position of skepticism and she acknowledges her own biases well without drifting too far from settled facts in those areas. Where she does - for me, it was a patriarchy weltanschauung that occasionally came up on digressions about motherhood and society - it is later in the book, and individual chapters that don't appeal could easily be skipped at that point. Topics that are only tangentially related to screen time are treated as such, and generally don't transgress into unrelated chapters.

The reading, by the author, was excellent. She has a pleasant voice, and provided compelling intonation throughout. The reading performance kept me engaged through some of the chapters I might have skimmed over in a print edition. I generally prefer when the author reads, because I value intonation of meaning over pleasantness of voice, but in this case there was no compromise. I had to double check before writing this review to make sure it wasn't a professional reader.

So helpful!

Thank you for such a balanced and interesting book. Well researched, practical, positive and well narrated.
I’m a child psychiarist and happy to have a book to recommend to parents. I learned a lot and have practical ideas for how to better engage with my children and media.

eye-opening

this book is fabulous. it demistifies screen time and leaves parents reassured. I found it very enlightening!

Invaluable Resource

This was a really invaluable resource for me! As a therapist who frequently works with children and their parents, this gave me a lot of concrete information and examples to have conversations with parents regarding embracing technology rather than fearing it.

A must read for any parent

well written and well researched. She does a great job of presenting both sides to each issue. She does not succumb to the scared straight method of other screen time books. I really enjoyed how she outlined and researched so many different perspectives to technology and screen time. I would highly recommend for all parents.

Comprehensive Analysis of All Angles of the Argument

This book will help empower you with data, facts, anecdotes, and tools to figure out the best way to approach tech for each individual child and family. A timely and comprehensive review of all angles of the argument.

Amazing👌✌

Amazing info, I learned a lot, I love it
I will start now in real life with my kids