Listen Now

In today’s episode, Dr. Ruston talks with an 11-year-old girl, Mira, regarding what she likes about the popular gaming platform Roblox and the video game Minecraft. Mira also shares experiences she’s had with strangers while gaming. Mira discusses specific encounters and how she has handled such situations. Mira’s mom joins for part of the episode. If you have kids who do online gaming, listening to this episode with them can help spark important conversations.

As teens head back to school with even more emotional challenges than ever before due to the pandemic, providing them tools to address such challenges is crucial. Studies show that Social and Emotional Learning, called SEL, can help improve emotional wellbeing, academics, and more. In this podcast, Ruston talks with Jordan Posamentier, Director of Policy and Advocacy for Committee for Children, about what constitutes effective SEL programs and how specifically all of us can advocate for getting SEL into all schools.

In today’s episode, Ruston talks with two mothers who have been working to have specific family times with less screen interference. First is a mom of four and her experience of doing screen-free family Sundays. Learn about the upsides and the challenges. The other is a mom in Alaska who has prioritized reading with her kids and how they keep screens at bay during this sacred time.  This episode can be a good launching point for experimenting with new screen-free times in your home. 

We've all heard the importance of parents showing a united front to their kids about rules. It’s a good thing to be united, but what about when you’re not? In this episode, Dr. Ruston looks at strategies parents can turn to when in disagreement — whether married or divorced. We gain insights from clinical psychologist Laura Kastner, Ph.D., and school counselor Tammy Fisher Huson, Ph.D., who both have spent decades working with youth and parents. And we hear from the researcher, Doug Gentile, who followed 1400 families for a year regarding family rules

We are doing episodes on ways families experiment with having specific times for more togetherness and less screen interference. Today’s show is with Tiffany Shlain and her daughter, Odessa. Tiffany is the founder of the Webby Awards, a filmmaker, and the author of the book 24/6. The podcast explores her family’s weekly ritual of unplugging Friday night to Saturday evening for “Tech Shabbat.” Tiffany and Odessa explain the what, why, and how of their weekly practice. 

When it comes to cyberbullying, what's fact and what's fiction? What do all kids need to know about how to handle online cruelty and how to help those getting targeted? And what can parents and schools do to be most helpful? To answer these and other questions, Dr. Ruston speaks with psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Englander, who has spent decades researching and writing books on these topics.

This spring, as vaccination rates increase, more schools are opening their campuses for in-person learning. At the same time, anxiety about returning to school is high for many youth.  How do we help our kids and teens who are experiencing anxious feelings related to school? To address this topic, Ruston speaks with a high school student and two child psychologists, Dr. Elizabeth Englander, a researcher, and Dr. Laura Kastner, a clinical psychologist.

Frustrated with his obsession with video gaming, Cam Adair wrote a post about his struggles that went viral. This led to his starting a movement that has brought together thousands to work to create a balanced life at Gamequitters.com. Cam is an international speaker to yRecovered gaming addict shares his story and adviceouth and their parents about video gaming. Today he shares his powerful personal story along with his wealth of insights for any youth who enjoys video gaming and any parent who is working to ensure a balanced life for their child.

Everyone knows that many young people play video games based on violent themes, and that shows have far more violence than when adults were kids. When COVID hit, many parents started to allow their kids to play games that they wouldn't have before COVID just because it has been such a source of connection and whatnot.  In today’s episode, Dr. Ruston wants to understand what are the ways that this violence impacts our youth. We hear from one of Dr. Ruston’s favorite researchers in this area, Douglas Gentile, Ph.D., a child psychologist who has been doing groundbreaking research in this field for over 25 years.

These days Dr. Ruston hears parents’ concerns around all the video gaming their kids are doing — as well as social media and other screen time.  Some are worried about the risks of them developing an addiction to technology. Today, Dr. Ruston talks with show Ed Spector,  Psy.D., a psychologist who has specialized in working with young people who are struggling with problematic video gaming and the internet for over a decade.  What is gaming disorder, and why do roughly 50% of teens report feeling addicted to technology? Most importantly, what strategies does Dr. Spector use with his clients that can help all parents help their kids gain more balance in their tech lives, particularly now during COVID?

False information about vaccines has been around before social media, but now it can spread that much faster. The results have been deadly. We all want safe and effective vaccines against COVID.  Today Dr. Ruston breaks down some of the false information around vaccines, explores amazing vaccine history, and relates this all to COVID. We also hear from kids and from a renowned vaccine researcher, Dr. Parker Small.

Now more than ever, it is crucial to have the ability to spot disinformation on the internet. How skillful are our kids at spotting disinformation? In this episode, we meet the director of the Stanford History Education Group, Joel Breakstone, PhD, who has researched this topic — and it is not pretty. His team has analyzed how college students, historians, and fact-checkers evaluate websites in order to create effective strategies for spotting disinformation. We learn why the C.R.A.P. Test is outdated, and we hear from teens about how they decide not to reshare a post on social media.

With back to school starting, and with all the online and offline stressors our kids are facing, this show is about improving their well-being by focusing on healthy sleep. Have your kids and teens listen to this show with you! Hear fascinating insights from Dr. Judy Owens, the Director of Sleep Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, and a neurology professor at Harvard Medical School. Explore the latest brain research with neuroscientist Adrian Galvan from UCLA and hear ideas from parents and a teen. Learn new ideas around increasing your child’s chance of getting brain nourishing sleep now — during these incredibly challenging times — and into the future.

Arguments in the home about screen time are common and more so when school is in session, so what to do? What is a parenting strategy that can promote healthy screen use, and other positive behaviors, while at the same time decrease fighting? In this episode, Delaney talks with one of her favorite parenting experts, Dr. Tammy Fisher Huson, about a strategy that Delaney learned from Tammy in the past and has made a real difference in Delaney’s own home.  *And one quick note, past episodes were intentionally created for parents to listen to with their kids but this one is more geared for parents. That said, if you do share it with your kids or teens it may spark a helpful conversation about how your communication is going. 

It is a brand new world where regular people of all ages can become stars on the internet overnight. But how do young influencers become brand marketers? Is it different for female and male influencers? Kids and teens feel connected and trust YouTubers they follow, but are they aware they are being marketed to? And, how is this type of marketing affecting our kids' self-esteem? Today’s guests include a talent manager for influencers who gives a behind the scenes look at these questions, along with teens who share their personal experiences.

Time on TikTok has been skyrocketing. Why is it attracting such huge numbers of teens? What positives can happen on the app, and what are some of the risks? The sheer amount of time it consumes is what most young people say is TikTok’s biggest downside. On today’s show, Dr. Delaney Ruston speaks with two teenagers, Marie and Manisha, who answer these questions and others. Delaney puts on her metaphorical doctor’s coat when both girls share that they want to change their behavior on TikTok. Delaney helps them decide a plan of action, and then we flash forward to hear how they did with their goals.   

Why do some kids and teens get overly frustrated and bored when it’s time to turn off their video games? How to know when game playing has become excessive? What are tips that all families should know for ensuring healthy videogame play? In today’s episode, Physician Delaney Ruston explores these issues along with a new model of brain biology to help explain irritability and boredom associated with video gaming.  We hear from teens along with psychiatrist Dr. Clifford Sussman who specializes in helping young people regain tech balance.  We also hear from Andrew Fulton who was in the film, Screenagers, when he was getting treatment at an internet rehab center, and is now working at the same center helping others recover from videogame overuse.