Rhythms in the New Year 2019 (January 8, 2019)

Rhythms in the New Year 2019

Willits's Weekly Wonderings Eight (4)

Happy New Year! Albeit eight days late, this is the first I have greeted you this year in my "weekly" emails. Each year, in place of new year's "resolutions," I (re)commit to rhythms I know will prompt growth, health, and wholeness in the year to come. Instead of sharing with you my rhythms, let me offer some suggestions from the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding*. While these are recommendations for the start of a new school year, they are worthy of consideration for the start of a calendar year, too. Parents, a New School Year, Extra-Curricular Busyness, and Prioritizing . . . (~3 minute read) One of my professional "rhythms" is watching one TED talk each week. The video I watched this week is worthy of sharing: Collin Kartchner (17:32)

Our kid's entire self-worth at 13 is determined by virtual unpredictable feedback, the validation that we all crave, to them is only available in this synthetic way. Their social standing and their self-esteem is determined by a "like" on an Instagram photo. And one mistake, one tiny gaffe, that we all made as 13-year-olds every day, that when we were kids was forgotten in an hour, is now publicly housed on the school snapchat page. When you're 13 today, there is no place to run. There's no escape and it is soul-crushing.

We, as adults, and as parents, we have to break free from our screen dependency and our social-media addiction. We have to start modeling healthy digital behavior for

our kids, who don't hear us; they see us.

Mr. Kartchner's words are heavy. Here are some other ideas/talking points to hopefully work toward a meaningful response to the video. Dr. Delany Ruston, and her "screenagers" website offer many helpful tools, like this one, that focuses on parent/adult behavior: Hold That Text. (~5 minute read) Or this one, which offers Tips from Teens on Reducing Screen Time. (~5 minute read) And lastly, this one, which offers Big List of Screen Time Monitoring Apps. (~5 minute read) Perhaps subscribing to their blog (or CPYU's) and sharing regular, meaningful conversations with your adolescent could be a rhythm that keeps both you and your adolescent healthier in the (new) year. I love being your student's school counselor. If there is something you would like me to know to do it better, please hit "reply." Grant W. Willits 5-8 School Counselor (712)722-3783 (x2120) *Walt Mueller is a youth pastor and CPYU is an explicitly Christian resource. While his worldview aligns with mine, I don’t presume it aligns with yours and believe his resource offers substantive content for all parents, Christian or otherwise.