Pines and Plains Libraries

"So...you got a phone! You can text your friends, play games, and take cool pictures! You have the whole world in your pocket—power to be used as a force for good or, um, not so good. Fraught with cyberbullying, disinformation, fake stuff, tech addiction, and so much more, the digital world can be downright sad, awkward, and nasty. But have no fear, kids—The Phone Book is here! Packed with research-based explanations, techy tidbits, and real stories...

"Over the past decade, educational instruction has become increasingly digitized as districts rush to dole out laptops and iPads to every student. Yet the most important question, "Is this what is best for students?" is glossed over. Veteran teachers Joe Clement and Matt Miles have seen firsthand how damaging technology overuse and misuse has been to our kids. On a mission to educate and empower parents, they show how screen saturation at home and...

"Screens are seductive. We see it in our toddlers, begging for tablets. We see it in our pre-teens, leading double lives on Tumblr. We see it in ourselves, too, as much of our time gets sucked into news feeds and emails. From a parenting vantage, technology has been the holy grail, allowing us to outsource the unpleasant tasks and give ourselves a break. No clean-up after painting when it's done on a tablet. No complaints of "I'm bored" on a road...

In this book the author offers insights and advice that can help parents achieve greater understanding, authority, and confidence as they come up against the tech revolution and how families can combat the disconnection we are experiencing from our extreme device dependence.

"In The Family Firm, Brown professor of economics and mom of two Emily Oster offers a classic business school framework for data-driven parents to think more deliberately about the key issues of the elementary years: school, health, extracurricular activities, and more. Unlike the hourly challenges of infant parenting, the big questions in this age come up less frequently. But we live with the consequences of our decisions for much longer. What's...

When the power goes out, it sparks an idea for Dot, Hal, Mom, and Dad. But stepping away from gadgets and devices isn't as easy as it seems. No video games, no laptaps or tablet, no drone. A trip to the basement turns up some interesting materials, none of which require electricity, software, or Internet access. What Dot and her family will need to plug into are their imaginations, creativity, and sense of adventure. They sing, play games, make art,...

"Harvard-trained psychiatrist Dr. Shimi Kang reveals the essential habits your child needs for a healthy relationship to digital technology that will nurture their full potential. New research shows alarming increases in stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and addiction among those who have grown up in a world of booming digital technology. Yet, Dr. Shimi Kang does not believe technology as a whole is to blame. Just like the food we consume affects...

Kersting explores the device-dependent world our children live in and its effects on their mental and emotional well-being. Research shows that too much time in the cyber world is re-wiring kid's brains, affecting their ability to flourish in the real world as anxiety, depression, and attention issues soar. Strategies to help reduce screen-time as well as meditative and mindfulness techniques may help our children reclaim their brains, and their lives,...