Carson City Schools hosts 'Screenagers' documentary viewing, talk on screen-time effects

The Carson City School District will host two showings of a 60-minute documentary titled "Screenagers Next Chapter — Uncovering Skills for Stress Resilience" Thursday, Feb. 20, at the Bob Boldrick Theatre in the Carson City Community Center. The two showings, beginning at 5:30 and 7:00 p.m., will be free and open to the public. Parents are encouraged to bring their children.

Technology specialists with the school district have also invited a panel of experts from the community to host a discussion and question and answer (Q&A) session from 6:45 – 7:15 p.m. Viewers who come for the 5:30 PM show are invited to stay until 7:15 p.m. and participate in the Q&A, and the viewers for the 7:30 p.m. show may arrive early at 6:45 p.m. to participate in the Q&A and then stay for the video. Click here to view the movie trailer.

SCREENAGERS is the first feature documentary to explore the impact of screen technology on kids and offers parents and families proven solutions that work. What started out as a personal story for one has grown into a national movement, helping millions of teens and their families navigate growing up in a world with instant access to screens.

“The Carson City School District continues to make a concerted effort to educate our students, parents and families about responsible use of technology to enhance learning,” said Dr. LeAnn Morris, Instructional Technology Coordinator, with the Carson City School District. “The goal of showing this new documentary, released in October 2019, to our community is to bring parents, children and educators together again to help foster healthy conversations about how screen time impacts their lives. The District previously hosted the original "Screenagers - Growing Up In The Digital Age."

Physician and Filmmaker Delaney Ruston decided to make SCREENAGERS when she found herself constantly struggling with her two kids about screen time. Ruston felt guilty and confused, not sure what limits were best, especially around mobile phones, social media, gaming and how to monitor online homework. Hearing repeatedly how other parents were equally overwhelmed, she realized this is one of the biggest, unexplored parenting issues of our time.

As a director, Ruston turned the camera on her own family and others — revealing stories of messy struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. The film will introduce Hannah, a 14-year old victim of social media bullying, who struggled trying to hide her social media use from her mom. And Andrew, whose love of video games turned into an addiction taking him from earning straight A’s to flunking out of college.

Interwoven into these stories, are cutting edge science and insights from thought leaders Peggy Orenstein, Sherry Turkle, Simon Sinek and leading brain scientists who present evidence on the real changes in the brain when kids are on screens. SCREENAGERS goes far beyond exposing the risks of screen time, it reveals multiple approaches on how parents and educators can work with kids to help them achieve a healthy amount of screen time.

About The Panel
Mandy Chambers, school counselor at Carson High School. Mandy was a Teacher at CHS from 1999-2004 and has been a School Counselor at CHS from 2004-present.

"As a school counselor, and a parent of a middle school and high school student, I'm very interested in the topic of emotional and mental wellness of our children, as well as the connection screen time has to that,” Chambers said. “We are navigating, with our kids, a new frontier in terms of the digital age and screen time. It's important that we are aware of what they have access to, how it can affect them, and how we can help them maintain mental wellness and resiliency."

Ananda Campbell, library media specialist at Carson High School. Augi and Betsy Campbell-Richards, 6th-grade students at Carson Middle School. Ananda has instructional technology experience as the library media specialist at Carson High School. Augi and Betsy are middle school students at Carson Middle School and new to the world of social media and personal devices.

"As a family, we are exploring this digital universe and learning how to manage our tech-habits in a healthy way," Ananda said.

Tracy Protell, MD, board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and pediatrician. Dr. Protell has been seeing patients at Barton Memorial Hospital in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. and Stateline, Nev. for the past 7 years. She attended medical school at the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine and completed her combined psychiatry and pediatrics residency training in Pittsburgh, PA. She is also a mother to two spirited, curious young children.

"The effects of technology and media exposure are evident every day in my medical practice and home life, and I often help families navigate this rapidly changing and shifting world in which our children live," Protell said.

Monica Campbell, licensed marriage and family therapist. After ten years working in public rural health, hospice care, and with foster youth, Monica has been in private practice in Carson City and Zephyr Cove, Nev. since 2010. Monica specializes in treating adolescents with depression and anxiety. She writes a weekly blog, Restoring Relationships, that provides education, information and compassion to parents of adolescents who need mental health support. In session, Monica focuses on teaching adolescents emotional tolerance for self and others through skills building, role-playing and self-acceptance.

"Every day, teens are coming into session with me to talk about the same issues the teens in the film talk about,” Monica said. “Social media isn't the only culprit teens face when it comes to limited resources and skills for self-calming and self-acceptance, but it is a big piece. The most important part of my work is addressing the contributors to adolescent suicide. Because of my frequent interactions with teens, I'm able to comment on their experiences and what I've seen helps them to reduce screen time in favor of face to face connection. Studies show a caring, non-judgmental interaction with another person is effective in reducing suicidal thoughts, making plans for suicide, or having access to the means of suicide."