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1. So informative and helpful!
   This book has been so eye opening in many ways! I am super thankful it came across my path! I would recommend it to every parent. Living in this world with so much tech it takes great wisdom and discernment to know how to navigate it and keep our kids safe. This book is so informative. I was blessed to grow up in the 1980’s and I had a wonderful childhood WITHOUT a cell phone. When I wanted to call someone, I went to our one CORDED house phone to talk. Or I went outside and found a neighbor kid to play with. We’d rollerblade, or ride our bikes, or draw with sidewalk chalk, or play basketball, or find toads or worms, or pick dandelions, or splash in puddles, or see who could run the fastest, or visit the elderly neighbor lady who gave us candy, or any number of other things we found to do. It was great. I want that – or something as close as I can get like that – for my kids as they grow up. This book reminded me of what kind of childhood I want my kids to have. It also opened my eyes to some of the things online that I hadn’t realized before and I am so glad I now know. I’m hoping to read it again with my husband and set some goals for how we want to handle tech in our home and with our kids. I want my kids to be kids. I want them to use their imaginations, to sometimes be bored (!), to read real books, to think their own thoughts, to learn new things in the real world in real time with real people, and to find what interests them, and what they’re passionate about… I want them to play. I want them to know how to be present with the people in the room and make eye contact and hold a real conversation. I want them to build real and lasting friendships…not just getting “likes” or followers. I don’t want them mindlessly scrolling, or falling prey to the many dangers online, or wasting their childhoods in front of a screen. I’ve highlighted so many portions of this book. And it’s initiating real change in our home. Read it!!!

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2. I thought I knew…
   I’m a 30 year old mom of 2 little ones who remembers purchasing my own pink Razr phone with my odd job savings in 7th grade after convincing my parents via a PowerPoint presentation, holding out until 11th grade for the iPhone my friends had. There were no cool apps yet, and social media on your phone (to my recollection) wasn’t anything much. A screen-free young childhood certainly gave me the ability to compare life with a screen in my pocket and life without – but I still experienced the pitfalls of addictive screens and social media, despite being a comparatively “light” user!I consider myself pretty savvy on the destructive nature of screens, having deleted social media years ago and still finding myself unwillingly in YouTube rabbit trails. But even still, I would say this book is absolutely indispensable to any parent of any age child today. It clearly painted the picture of what this tech is doing to our children, more than I even knew. Even more important would this book be to the generation of grandparents who don’t seem to differentiate iPad/iPhone/smart TV usage from us being plunked in front of a cable show when we were 12. There was SO much in this book I didn’t realize about screens, and it prompted great discussions with my family and my husband.What I love about this book is that it’s not judgmental, but it absolutely has a stance. The author’s end goal isn’t to get you to throw away screens and tell your kids they’re scary and evil, nor is it to pretend we live in a time before all of this technology. Her goal is to step back from the norm of thinking (When should I get them a smartphone?) and instead to shape your family with deeper questioning (What does getting a smartphone do to my family?). What do you do instead of screen time? How can I compete with the lure of TikTok and the “social” fitting in at school? Do you even know what you’re doing when you hand a child a smartphone? What do you want your family life to look like?It’s equally informative and inspiring, and I have recommended it to all of my mom friends. I want my son and daughter to grow up without being guinea pigs for the profit of strangers who don’t have their best interests at heart. I want them to grow up feeling loved, affirmed, healthy, and full of joy. After reading this book, I’ve got a better grasp on how to navigate this hugely important issue. Thank you, Erin, for writing this!! You have paved a path for me to not only protect my children’s hearts, but to nourish them as well.

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3. We’re the first generation of parents navigating through smart phones. We get one chance to raise our kids. Let this book inform you on what the purpose of ‘devices’ really is and get your family life back!

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