Growing up Digital: A Group for Teenagers and Support for Parents
Growing up Digital is a group for teens who:
- Live for their video games, love social network sites and talk in text.
- Argue, bargain and sneak to get more time with their gadgets.
- Have screen separation anxiety.
- Can't get to home work, chores or the dinner table.
- Want to find some peace with World of Warcraft and other MMORPGS
Growing Up Digital provides support for parents of teens who:
- Wonder if their kid is "addicted”.
- Can't seem to answer the question: "How much time is the right amount of time when it comes to my child and digital screens and devices?"
- Are frustrated and have tried reasoning, punishing and taking it all away.
- Can't seem to find a way to have a relationship with their child around gadgets, video games, the internet and cell phones.
This group will begin and end with meetings just for parents. In these two meetings we will cover teen digital-culture and how parents can instill and support basic values, while also embracing the realities of today's digital world. Parents will gain perspective on the role technology plays in their kid’s development and how to make necessary adjustments to their attitudes and approaches. The parent meetings will provide a relationship-based approach to issues such as: time management, limit setting, manners/consideration, and your kid's involvement in the digital social world.
Teens will meet for 12 weeks with a tech-minded therapist and like-minded kids to think about the good parts and the hard parts of juggling online life with the real time world. The group is designed to help teens become self aware about how they interact with technology and the impact that living digital has on their academic, social and family lives. All of the groups will combine presentation, journaling and group activities along with group interaction and discussion.
Teens who participate in the group will:
- Learn practical strategies for staying safe in the digital world.
- Develop the ability to talk to parents about their digital needs and lives, negotiate the terms of tech time and avoid power struggles.
- Consider how hardware, software, websites and communication mediums affect their social and family lives.
- Connect with peers with similar interests to explore and understand how to balance the various aspects of their lives.
Teens group: Saturday afternoons, 2 hours
Parent Support Meetings: Weeknights, 1 hour 30 minutes
Location:1530 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA 94710
Space is limited call (510) 488-3093