On Tuesday, June 30, Park City Community Foundation hosted a Crest Speaker Series conversation on teen mental wellness. We discussed social media, screen use anxiety, depression, and suicide–especially in this time of COVID-19.
Panelists and speakers included TEDx speakers, Collin Kartchner of Save the Kids, Jason Reid of ChooseLife.org, and our local expert Mary Christa Smith of Communities That Care.
Local Resources for Mental Health support
Collin’s Suggested Summer to-dos:
- Make sure everyone in your family is getting 8 hugs every day for 8 seconds minimum.
- Parents, look at your own screen time first – what can you do to be more present
- Schedule some tech-free family activities – board games, hikes, game night, root beer floats
- Do something awesome as a family and don’t share it with anyone (no photos). Life is about living and not documenting
- More sun, fewer screens (get outside!)
- Allow kids to be bored
- Have daily conversations about things they see and hear about in the news
- Monitor screen time (know what apps your kids are using and follow them)
- Collin’s Ted Talk
Jason’s Tips on Connecting with your Kids:
- Be vulnerable with your kids – be OK with not being OK in front of your kids
- Find a way to talk to your kids, whether it’s in the car facing forward, cooking a meal or through letters
- Don’t try to fix them. Just listen and give them hugs. Kids just want to be heard
- Just because you have a good kid doesn’t mean they aren’t affected by what they find online
- Jason’s Ted Talk
Books Suggested by Collin Kartchner
- “For The Sake of Our Youth” by Tessa Stuckey
- “Glow Kids” by Nicholas Kardaras
Resources for Parenting in this digital age from Mary Christa Smith
- Podcast with Dr. Brad Reedy and Evoke Therapy Programs. https://evoketherapy.com/resources/evoke-podcast/
- Dr. Christy Kane’s website is an excellent resource on the impacts of social media and gaming. https://www.drchristykane.com
- Common Sense Media reviews movies and TV shows for appropriateness https://www.commonsensemedia.org
- “The Journey of the Heroic Parent” by Dr. Brad Reedy
- “Mindful Parenting” by John Kabbat Zinn
- “The Awakened Family” by Dr. Sheflali Tsabury
- “Nature and the Human Soul” by Bill Plotkin
- “The Dance of Anger” by Harriet Lerner
If this topic spoke to you, please support the work of Park City Community Foundation. Your donation allows us to bring cross-sector leaders together to address important community issues such as mental wellness, early childhood education and more.
