By Clare Modder (primary school counsellor), Nora Nickolmann (secondary school psychologist) and Kris Coorde (primary design and digital technology teacher).
Thank you to all the families who were able to join us for our first Screenagers parent evening on Wednesday 30 September. It was wonderful to see such a great turnout, and we really appreciated the openness, honesty and thoughtful contributions from everyone who attended.
During the evening, we watched the award-winning documentary Screenagers, which explores the impact of screen use and technology on children and young people. The documentary raises important questions around the role screens play in our children’s lives, including how we can support healthy habits, navigate challenges and create balanced relationships with technology as a family. In the documentary you hear from lots of different parents and children, who all have different approaches to this important topic.
Keep, Change & Curious
Following the viewing, we divided into two conversation groups: a primary group, led by Ms Modder, and a secondary group, led by Ms Nickolmann. In our discussions, we began to explore three key areas:
- Keep – What values, routines and agreements around screen use are already working well for our families and that we would like to continue?
- Change – Are there things around screen use at home that we would like to approach differently or change?
- Curious – What questions, challenges or topics are we curious to explore further?
Looking Ahead
We will host a second parent evening after the Winter Break, where we will dive a little deeper into our three themes of Keep, Change and Curious. We look forward to continuing the conversation, sharing ideas and exploring practical ways we can support one another as a community. All families are very welcome to join the second parent evening, even if you were unable to attend the first session. Thank you once again to everyone who joined us. We look forward to continuing this important conversation together in the new year.
Smartphonevrij Opgroeien Parent Group at ISU
Smartphonevrij Opgroeien is a nationwide movement of parents, teachers and school leaders in the Netherlands working towards a healthier digital environment for children. It supports a smartphone-free school day and waiting until age 15 for social media, in line with current national guidelines. At ISU, a parent group is currently formed to talk about children and screens. The idea is that if parents delay smartphones and social media together, children feel less pressure within their class. School parents can find more information about this parent group in the For Parent Section.
Useful resources
Ms Modder, Ms Nickolmann and Mr Coorde recommend the following resources for parents wanting to further explore the topic of screen use.
Books
- Delany Ruston – Parenting in the Screen Age
- Jonathan Haidt – The Anxious Generation
- Jonathan Haidt & Catherine Price – The Amazing Generation (same message, but really written for (pre-)teens)
- Elise Gravel – Killer Underwear Invasion (How to spot fake news, disinformation & conspiracy theories – written for primary school students)
- Thijs Launspach – Smartphonevrij opgroeien (in Dutch)
YouTube videos
- Best and Worst Cartoons for your Child’s brain
- Screen Agers Bites (scroll down to find the "bites" series)
- How Screens are Hijacking your Child’s Brain
- Sharing everything with AI, is that bad? (on AI being used as a therapist. In Dutch, so turn subtitles on)
- Head of Youtube Health: Protecting Your Kids Isn't About Keeping Them Offline!
- The drug-like effect of screen time on the teenage brain
- Meau – Piece of my Soul (song about cyberbullying by Dutch singer)
Podcasts
- How Dangerous is Roblox? A Playground for Dirty Men (in Dutch)
- Parenting in the Screen Age
- The Screen Guardians Podcast
Websites