Are You Smarter than a Smartphone?

ORANGEVALE, Calif. - July 6, 2016 - PRLog -- In 2015, Common Sense Media conducted extensive research (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_executivesummary.pdf) and found that today's 13 to 18-year-olds spend about nine hours on entertainment media per day, excluding time spent at school or doing homework. Of course, most parents didn't need research to know that. They have likely been engaged in the seemingly never ending battle against today's technology and its grip on their children for years or they are right there with them - just as spellbound by their mobile devices as their kids.

In 52 Ways to Connect with Your Smartphone Obsessed Kid, (Shiloh Run Press, July 2016) author Jonathan McKee draws from over 20 years of experience working with teenagers, studying youth culture, and raising three teens of his own to provide help to parents who want to have meaningful interaction with their kids and win the technology war with the Smartphone Generation.

Interestingly, technology is not the enemy according to McKee.

"We need to help teenagers move from being tech-dependent to tech-enabled. Technology can be a really convenient tool in communicating with people outside the room, but it becomes a hindrance when it interferes with our connection with people inside the room. The ideas offered in the book come from not just years of research, but from extensive engagement on the frontlines as an imperfect parent who wanted to connect with his kids. As with any other value that we want to instill in our children, teaching the responsible use of today's technology begins with us - the parents."

McKee's transparency will immediately set parents at ease as he addresses boundaries in a kind, constructive way, yet with the firmness needed to make his point. With his common sense approach, supported by plenty of expert documentation, he sets forth the dangers that lie ahead if parents fail to act. But instead of lecturing, he provides them with practical solutions to the problems facing the family in using today's technology. His 52 Ways to Connect with Your Smartphone Obsessed Kid will help to turn monologues into dialogues and to replace screen images with faces - the faces of people who mean the most, their kids.

Jonathan McKee is an author and speaker. He and his wife, Lori, and their three teenagers Alec, Alyssa, and Ashley live in California.

TheSource4Parents.com