The Screen Guardians

10/15/2026

Social media doesn't just capture our attention. It taps into our emotions.

For children and teens, whose brains are still developing the skills needed for emotional regulation and impulse control, that matters.

That's why in The Screen Guardians program, we teach students a simple but powerful strategy:

PAUSE. CHECK. CHOOSE.

A moment to slow down, recognize what they're feeling, and make an intentional decision instead of reacting.

This same principle is at the heart of the work of Trisha Prabhu, founder of ReThink, featured in Your Attention Please.

We can't expect kids to navigate persuasive technology without teaching them how their brains respond to it.

Education builds awareness. Awareness creates choice.

🛡️ Learn more at thescreenguardians.com
🎧Listen to the full podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify or YouTube.
🎬 Your Attention Please, now streaming on Apple TV

10/15/2026

Friday: an idea.
Saturday: the letter.
Sunday: we asked for your support, and it came like a tsunami.
Tuesday: Katie stood before the Kansas State Board of Education with more than 150 of your names.

We asked the board to add one sentence to its new technology policy. That sentence asks schools to teach kids, teachers and families how technology affects attention, learning, emotional well-being and safety, and where to get help if something goes wrong.

A device policy tells kids what they can’t do. Education tells them why. 💙

Thank you for standing with our kids. Read the full story, the letter, and your words:

In four days, 150+ Kansans signed an open letter asking the Kansas State Board of Education to add technology education for students, teachers and families.

10/12/2026

One parent asked one question.

"Can I see a list of every app and platform my child uses at school?"

The school didn't get defensive. They paused. They gave teachers professional development time to look at every tool and ask:
✔️ Is it necessary?
✔️ Is it actually working?
✔️ Are teachers even using it?
✔️ What does it cost?
✔️ How is student data protected?

Then they set clear boundaries on using AI with sensitive student information.

That isn't anti-technology. It's responsible technology. 💙

Technology came into classrooms for good reasons. Now we know more, so now we get to ask better questions.

Katie put together the questions every parent can ask their school, starting with "What technology does my child use?" and ending with "What's our policy on AI and student information?"

👉 Read the questions: https://thescreenguardians.com/technology-in-schools-audit/

Want this kind of thinking in your child's school? See how The Screen Guardians works → thescreenguardians.com/program

Technology in schools should earn its place. See how one parent's question led a school to audit every app, plus 9 questions to ask about cost, data and AI.

10/12/2026

“The drama is part of the business model.”

Why haven’t platforms adopted simple safety tools? Kristin Bride, who lost her son Carson after he was cyberbullied, explains: these apps make money by keeping kids online longer, and drama does exactly that.

When bullying is happening, kids don’t log off. They stay to make sure they’re not next.

If screens feel like a constant battle in your home, you’re not failing. It’s an unfair fight.

Understanding the “why” is where change begins.

Kristin was featured on The Screen Guardians Podcast last week, the same week the documentary, Your Attention Please, launched on Apple+.

🎧 Full conversation on The Screen Guardians Podcast: https://thescreenguardians.com/screen-guardians-podcast-internet-safety-tips-for-kids/
🎬 Your Attention Please, now on Apple TV: https://www.yourattentionplz.com/

10/10/2026

At 13, Trisha Prabhu read about a 12-year-old girl who died by su***de after being cyberbullied for a year and a half.

She decided she couldn’t be a bystander. So she built something.

ReThink™ detects potentially hurtful words before they’re posted and gives the person a moment to reconsider. A pause. A chance to choose differently.

Today, Trisha sees ReThink as much more than a feature. It’s a rallying cry about how our digital world is designed, and what kind of behavior it rewards.

“Algorithms today ask us for the worst of ourselves. They reward the worst of how we behave, and they normalize it.”

Her question stuck with me: Do we all have to show up online and be cruel? Or can we build something different?

That pause matters so much for kids. Their brains are still under construction. Trisha calls the adolescent brain “a car with no brakes.” A moment to stop and think gives the logical part of the brain a chance to catch up.

It’s the same principle we teach at The Screen Guardians: Pause. Check. Choose.

Education is the greatest form of protection. And sometimes it starts with one 13-year-old who refused to accept “this is just how it is.”

🎧 Hear our full conversation with Trisha, Kristin Bride, and director Sara Robin on The Screen Guardians Podcast: https://thescreenguardians.com/screen-guardians-podcast-internet-safety-tips-for-kids/
🎬 Watch Your Attention Please, now on Apple TV: https://www.yourattentionplz.com/

10/08/2026

Technology should earn its place in the classroom.

Not because schools did anything wrong by bringing it in. The intent was good. Teachers needed support, and every student deserved the same shot.

But "engaged" isn't the same as "learning." A September 2026 APA report found that time spent, enjoyment, and completion are easy to mistake for learning.

So one school did something simple and brave: it audited every app, program, and platform its students use. Is it necessary? Is it effective? Is the data protected? What's it replacing?

Katie breaks down the questions every school (and every parent) should be asking ⬇️
https://thescreenguardians.com/technology-in-schools-audit/

When we know better, we do better.

Education is the greatest form of protection. See how The Screen Guardians brings this to K–12 schools → thescreenguardians.com/program

10/07/2026

🎬 **It's here.** ***Your Attention Please*** is now streaming on Apple TV, Prime Video, and more.

Your attention is worth more than oil. 🛢️

We've never paid a cent for Instagram or TikTok, because we're not the customers. The advertisers are. What's being sold is our time, our focus… and our kids'.

So if putting the phone down feels hard at your house, it's not a willpower problem. It's by design. No shame. No judgment.

🎙️ **This week on the Screen Guardians podcast:** filmmaker **Sara Robin**, parent advocate **Kristin Bride**, and ReThink™ inventor **Trisha Prabhu**

*This film discusses su***de and cyberbullying. Please watch with care.*

10/01/2026

**Generative AI is moving into classrooms quickly. But are we moving too quickly?**

AI has incredible potential in education. But potential shouldn't replace caution—especially when we're talking about kids and their data.

When educators use generative AI tools, what information is being entered or uploaded?

A class roster?
A student's name?
Academic information?
Behavioral notes?
Personally identifiable information?

It can feel like we're simply typing something into a smarter version of Google.

**But we need to understand what happens to that information after we hit enter.**

And we can't put that responsibility solely on teachers.

Schools need clear policies.
Educators need training.
Parents deserve transparency.
Students deserve protection.

This isn't about being anti-AI.

It's about making sure **education doesn't adopt powerful technology faster than we understand how to use it safely and responsibly.**

Before asking, *“How can we use AI in the classroom?”* we also need to ask:

**“What are the risks, what information are we sharing, and do we have the guardrails in place to protect our kids?”**

🎙️ Ben, The Family I.T. Guy, and I dig into AI, student data, privacy, schools, and the bigger questions we should be asking on the latest episode of the **Screen Guardians Podcast**.

**Listen to the full conversation.**

09/28/2026

Risks of introducing AI to kids: ⬇️⬇️⬇️

When you use AI constantly, you're outsourcing your thinking. And when you outsource your thinking, you become dependent on the tool.

Instead of getting smarter, you get dumber.

Especially for kids whose brains are still developing.

Early adopter technology has problems we don't fully understand yet. And schools are rolling it out to millions of kids right now.
We need to be asking better questions before we do.

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