Host Krista Boan talks to Heath Wilson and Joey Odom, the developers of Aro. They talk about how their project seeks to help families put their phones down and experience "life uninterrupted."

At START, we often talk about how this generation of parents is breaking new ground. Smartphones have changed our social and cultural landscape, and they’ve given rise to unprecedented challenges for parents as they discern how to introduce them to their kids. For START co-founder Krista Boan, these aren’t abstract questions. From the beginning, she knew smartphones were in her kids’ future, and 2021 was the year she took the leap with her oldest daughter. On this episode of the podcast, the tables are turned; she’s on the other side of the interview table and her friend Adam Reck is interviewing her. Adam has years of experience working with kids as a mentor and a student minister at Krista’s church. He’s also seen countless families make this transition. In this conversation, they compare notes and share wisdom as Krista discusses the steps her family took to introduce a new smartphone, the roles apps and filters can use, and the importance of wisdom, communication, and connection with your kids.

The real goal that lies behind setting boundaries around technology and screen time is much bigger than any one issue. We want kids to flourish and to have thriving relationships and experiences. Our guest on this week’s podcast has dedicated her life to that work. Angie Daniels is the Program Manager for The Hope Center on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri. There, she works to serve kids in an urban community in the heart of the city. From Pre-K to High School, they work to provide a supportive, community-building and family-like atmosphere for kids outside of school. She’s also the mother of five kids who grew up in the smartphone revolution, all of whom are now young adults, Listen in on the conversation about what helpshow phone boundaries help kids to flourish, how The Hope  Center is serving its neighborhood, and how Angie and her husband navigated their own use of technology in the home.

Few thoughts are as daunting to parents as the potential impact, damage, and prevalence of pornography in the lives of modern kids. While we’d like to think it mostly lives in hard-to-reach corners of the internet, the reality is that it’s only a few clicks away. But rather than let that fact frighten us away from the topic, we want to encourage parents to approach it straight-on, and our guests on this episode of Screen Sanity have done excellent work in helping us consider how to do so. Rob and Zareen Cope are parents from New Zealand and the producers of the documentary “Our Kids Online: Porn, Predators, and How to Keep Them Safe.” They join START co-founder Krista Boan to talk about the origins of the documentary, the harm that porn is causing a generation, and practical ideas for protecting and educating our kids.

Listeners may know Brady Smith and his wife Tiffani Thiessen from their work in film and television. What you may not know is that they’re passionate about helping families reassess their relationship with screens. In 2019, they published You’re Missing It, a children’s book that’s a cautionary tale about what happens when parents find themselves glued to their phones. During the months of COVID lockdown, Brady created a hit Instagram show called Random Acts of Drawness, inviting kids to draw and doodle in real life away from screens. This happy accident led to the launch of his latest book by the same name--now available everywhere super-awesome activity sketchbooks are sold. Listen in as Brady joins START co-founder Krista Boan for a conversation about the book and their efforts to help their kids develop healthy relationships with screens

What are the unique pressures that come with social media for girls? How can parents help give them a “learners permit” for online life? How do we think about our own relationships with social media and how it affects our kids? On this week’s episode, START co-founder Krista Boan sits down with Amanda Mozea to talk about these questions and more. Amanda is the Education Outreach Manager of Media Girls (www.mediagirls.org), where she and her team work to equip parents and girls to better understand the risks and rewards of online life.

Scott Bacon is the principal of Blue Valley High School in Overland Park, Kansas. On this episode of the podcast, Scott sits down with START’s Krista Boan to talk about the impact of screen time and technology on student life at Blue Valley. They discuss the pressures of social media, school policies on phone usage and access, and the ways that remote learning and ZOOM fatigue have forced changes in those policies in recent months. You’ll hear real life wisdom from someone who spends every day on the front lines of the struggle for kids’ health and attention against the constant allure of technology.

Susan Dunaway is a neurotherapist whose practice has explored the many connections between screens and mental health. On this episode of the podcast, she talks with START co-founder and host Krista Boan about the science of neurotherapy and the effect of screen time and social media on the brain, including the remarkably important roles dopamine and oxytocin play in health and well-being. She also speaks from personal experience, describing her own family’s practices, what she’s learned and adapted during COVID, and how she’s seen gaming impact the development of the minds and mental health of middle schoolers. Executive Produced by Krista Boan and START Produced and Edited by Mike Cosper and Narrativo

Amy Crouch, author of My Tech Wise Life, joins host Krista Boan to talk about what it was like growing up in a tech wise family.

Krista Boan invites her START co-founder, Tracy Foster, to talk about the mission of START and how they hope to equip families for flouishing in a digital world.