Podcasts about your kids about pornography

Today Shani, Janet and Dannah take you on a new journey through a possibly familiar scripture about parenting. Register for the How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography workshop HERE. (If you can't join us LIVE on March 2nd, don't worry! You'll receive the recording of the workshop the very next day.)Order Dannah's newest book Happily Even After.Sign up for the True Girl Subscription HERE and get your Glow and Tell box in March!

In this episode we wrap up from the last, and continue our brave dive into discussing restoration in the age of pornography with guest, Greta Eskridge - reclaiming a healthy, godly sexuality from fear, trauma, shame and depression - with simple practical steps to fight porn with your kids, family and community.What an incredible time it is with Greta as she saturates with her fun, warm authenticity along with hope, empowering insights and strategies.Listen in to get emboldened and equipped with the power of restoration and connection - whether you're in need of restoration or you want to be equipped to support and help protect those around you from this pervasive issue.Greta would love to connect with you. Find her on Instagram as @maandpamodern #gretafightspornOr on her website www.gretaeskridge.comPlus, Greta has compiled some great resources and tools. Find some below, and the FULL LIST at www.bydami.comSHOW RESOURCES:To help your family fight pornography & cultivate a healthy sexual culture in your homeBOOKS:addressing pornography and body safety (to read with your kids)Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. by Kristen Jensen (ages 5-8)Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen Jensen (ages 9-12)God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb (ages 4-10)How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography by Alexander Dina (ages 12-18) *non-sectarianaddressing healthy sexuality for adults:Mom, Dad, What's sex? Giving Your Kids a Gospel Centered View of Sex and Our Culture. by Jessica Thomson and Joel FitzpatrickRaising Boys Who Respect Girls by Dave WillisRethinking Sexuality--God's Design and Why It Matters by Julie SlatteryWEBSITES:that provide information on talking to your kids about sex and cultivating a healthy sexuality in the home:Birds and Bees and Kids – www.birdsandbeesandkids.comSmart Phone alternative for kids: Gab PhoneFind the rest of the show notes at www.bydami.comGet your hopes up!

In this episode we dive bravely into discussing restoration in the age of pornography with guest, Greta Eskridge - reclaiming a healthy, godly sexuality from fear, trauma, shame and depression - with simple practical steps to fight porn with your kids, family and community.What an incredible honor to chat with Greta as she saturates with her fun, warm authenticity along with hope, empowering insights and strategies.Listen in to get encouraged and equipped with the power of restoration and connection - whether you're in need of restoration or you want to be equipped to support and help protect those around you from this pervasive issue. Greta would love to connect with you. Find her on Instagram as @maandpamodern #gretafightspornOr on her website www.gretaeskridge.comPlus, Greta has compiled some great resources and tools. Find some below, and full list at www.bydami.comSHOW RESOURCES:To help your family fight pornography & to cultivate a healthy sexual culture in your homeBOOKS:Books addressing pornography and body safety (to read with your kids)Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. by Kristen Jensen (ages 5-8)Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen Jensen (ages 9-12)God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb (ages 4-10)How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography by Alexander Dina (ages 12-18) *non-sectarianBooks addressing healthy sexuality (to read with your kids):The Story of Me by Stan and Brenna James (ages 4-8)The Bare Facts: 30 Questions Your Parents Hope You Never Ask About Sex by Josh McDowell (read with your teen)Chasing Love—Sex, Love and Relationships in a Confused Culture by Sean Mc Dowell (read with your teen)A Student's Guide to Culture by John Stonestreet & Brett Kunkle (read with your teen)Books addressing healthy sexuality (for adults to read):Find the rest of the full show notes at www.bydami.comGet your hopes up!@damitenin

In today's episode Erin has an open and honest discussion with Greta Eskridge about protecting our children from the devastating effects of pornography and the conversations we MUST be having. Not a one-time warning, but an ongoing open dialogue with our kids. Not sure how where to start? Have a listen as we share The Good, the Bad & the Beautiful of pornography and how to protect our kids. "If we truly want to protect our children from pornography, we have to be wiling to be radically different from the rest of the world." Greta Eskridge (*I am working on the sound quality on my end for future interviews.) Resources to help your family fight pornography & to cultivate a healthy sexual culture in your home Compiled by Greta Eskridge -- www.gretaeskridge.com Books Books addressing pornography and body safety (to read with your kids): Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. by Kristen Jensen (ages 5-8) Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen Jensen (ages 9-12) God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb (ages 4-10) How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography by Alexander Dina (ages 12-18) Books addressing pornography (for adults to read): The Porn Myth by Matt Fradd Every Parent's Battle—a Family Guide to Resisting Pornography by Dan Spencer III Books Addressing Healthy Tech Use: The Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch Find Greta on Instagram for lots more info and resources on fighting porn-- @maandpamodern If you'd like more information on any of these resources, or to have Greta Eskridge speak at your church or event, please send inquiries to: gretaeskridge@gmail.com

Follow us on instagram:@intentional_parents@brook_mosser@Emosser@philmcomer@dianewcomer Grab a copy of our book: Raising Passionate Jesus Followers (Now available in audiobook!)https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Passionate-Jesus-Followers-Intentional/dp/0310347777 Website: intentionalparents.orgSupport: https://www.intentionalparents.org/give Blog: https://www.intentionalparents.org/blog Greta's Book “Adventuring together” Resources from this episode Books addressing pornography and body safety (to read with your kids)- Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. by Kristen Jensen (ages 5-8)- Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen Jensen (ages 9-12)- God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb (ages 4-10)- How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography by Alexander Dina (ages 12-18) Books Addressing Pornography (for adults to read)- The Porn Myth by Matt Fradd- Every Parent's Battle—a Family Guide to Resisting Pornography by Dan Spencer III Some Parental Control Software and Apps- Covenant Eyes- Net Nanny- Kaspersky Safe Kids- Bark- Qustodio- Disney Circle

Follow us on instagram:@intentional_parents@brook_mosser@Emosser@philmcomer@dianewcomer Grab a copy of our book: Raising Passionate Jesus Followers (Now available in audiobook!)https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Passionate-Jesus-Followers-Intentional/dp/0310347777 Website: intentionalparents.orgSupport: https://www.intentionalparents.org/give Blog: https://www.intentionalparents.org/blog Greta's Book “Adventuring together”  Resources from this episode  Books addressing pornography and body safety (to read with your kids)- Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr. by Kristen Jensen (ages 5-8)- Good Pictures Bad Pictures by Kristen Jensen (ages 9-12)- God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb (ages 4-10)- How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography by Alexander Dina (ages 12-18) Books Addressing Pornography (for adults to read)- The Porn Myth by Matt Fradd- Every Parent's Battle—a Family Guide to Resisting Pornography by Dan Spencer III Some Parental Control Software and Apps- Covenant Eyes- Net Nanny- Kaspersky Safe Kids- Bark- Qustodio- Disney Circle

In Part 2 of this series on How Sex Addiction and Betrayal Trauma Effect Kids, Dina joins Ashlynn, Coby and Brannon to discuss the topic of empowering and educating kids on porn. Dina Alexander is the founder and CEO of Educate and Empower Kids. She is the creator of How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the "30 Days of Sex Talks" and "30 Days to a Stronger Child" programs. You can find her at https://educateempowerkids.org. Don't know where to start? Click here? beyond-enough.com/step1 We are glad you found our season 3 episodes where we share some of our most advanced learnings and bring amazing experts on when it comes to relationships, and the challenges of healing both sides of the relationship after sex addiction and infidelity. Our journey has taken us a long ways from the time we recorded these episodes, but many have still found help and hope for healing in the information. We hope you always seek healing first for yourself, and where possible for the relationship, though staying together or choosing divorce or separation can occur at the point of betrayal and at times even after healing from betrayal and addictions. If you would like support in healing from betrayal we'd invite you to look at our program https://www.beyond-enough.com/beyondbetrayal It is not a program about staying together or leaving your partner, but rather finding the healing we need as an individual who has been made aware of our partner cheating. If you would like support from a licensed therapist contact Brannon's office at www.utahtherapy.org To find out about Ashlynn's groups https://www.thisisashlynn.com/mentoring To get support from Coby check out www.growwithcoby.com Thanks for your continued support for the podcast throughout all of our journey.

In Part 2 of this series on How Sex Addiction and Betrayal Trauma Effect Kids, Dina joins Ashlynn, Coby and Brannon to discuss the topic of empowering and educating kids on porn.   Dina Alexander is the founder and CEO of Educate and Empower Kids. She is the creator of How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the "30 Days of Sex Talks" and "30 Days to a Stronger Child" programs.  You can find her at https://educateempowerkids.org.    Don't know where to start? Click here? beyond-enough.com/step1 Check out our Course Shattered Trust to Thriving Intimacy here... www.shatteredtothriving.com And subscribe to the podcast here... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Connect with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/betrayedaddi... Connect with us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/recovery_co... https://www.instagram.com/brannon_pat... https://www.instagram.com/ashlynnandcoby

You know it has to be done. The porn talk. Cue the sweaty palms and racing heart. And what about our kids? How do we pull this off without stressing them out? Wouldn’t you like to know?   This show is actually a sneak peek of the content in our FREE guide, 10 Surprisingly Natural Ways to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography. Find the link in our complete podcast notes at Parents Aware. You’ll get awesome ideas for starting great discussions with your kids. All in surprising natural ways!  You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers. Most parents know they need to talk to their kids about pornography. They just get stuck on how to do it. It’s the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. It feels scary, awkward and uncomfortable.  A lot of parents also wonder when they should start the porn talk. Our answer is always the same—start today!  Do you have young children? No worries. Everything we talk about in this episode can be adapted to any age. Maybe you have teens? That’s good too. Research shows that teens actually want their parents to start honest conversations with them about sex and pornography.  Media Savvy Moms is a podcast by ParentsAware, an organization dedicated to helping parents talk to kids and teens about pornography and healthy sexuality. For complete show notes, visit http://parentsaware.info/index.php/podcast/.

What is the most important message you want your daughter to hear from you about sex? Such a great question! We wish we had come up with it. But truly, it’s from Dina Alexander of Educate Empower Kids. Lucky us, she’s back on the podcast! This time helping us take sex talks for daughters a step beyond periods and puberty.  We don’t have to tell you that the media isn’t very kind when it comes to women. From movies and magazines to social media and porn, women and girls are airbrushed and photoshopped, exploited, objectified, and generally made to feel like they are just not enough … or just enough to satisfy the male gaze.  We claim to be an enlightened society, where women are respected and heard. And yet the same old dangerous sexual stereotypes repeatedly surface. Think about that. While we’re telling our girls that they can grow up to be anything they want—POWER TO THE PERIOD!—women are continually portrayed as sex objects on social media and in film and print. Is it surprising then that these scripts find their way into first kisses, dating, and eventual sexual relationships?  Hmmm, looks like we have some work ahead of us.  More about today’s guest Dina Alexander, MS, is the founder and CEO of Educate and Empower Kids. She is the creator of How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. It is her life’s work to help parents, teachers and community leaders raise strong, healthy kids who use technology for good in this new digital age.  Links/Resources Books from Educate and Empower Kids Talking With Our Daughters About Masturbation [For complete show notes visit ParentsAware.info]  

Dina Alexander is the founder and CEO of Educate and Empower Kids (educateempowerkids.org), an organization determined to strengthen families by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online porn. She is the creator of Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good, Petra’s Power to See: A Media Literacy Adventure, How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. She received her master’s degree in recreation therapy from the University of Utah and her bachelors from Brigham Young University. She is an amazing mom and loves spending time with her husband and three kids. Together, they live in New Mexico. Family meetings are more than just a cold sit-down with the people you need to have a conversation with! Dina knows the power of having a vulnerable conversation with your family and how important it really is. There are some really important topics we need to be able to discuss with our families! In this episode, we discuss how to cultivate trust through the family meeting and how to make those meetings fun. Find more from Dina at https://empowerlatterdaysaintkids.org and https://educateempowerkids.org Join the Family Success Toolkit Free Membership http://homeandfamilyculture.com Books on Amazon (affiliate link)    

How comfortable are you talking about race? Up until recently, I have NOT been comfortable talking about this topic because I recognized how uninformed and privileged I am–and that made me feel a little ashamed. Because this topic matters. SO MUCH. It’s really common when we realize we’re uneducated in certain areas to stay quiet–because if we open our mouths and start learning and asking questions, we might say something that is offensive or hurts someone. But staying quiet is not the answer: Answers come from seeking learning and asking for help. That is why I invited Dr. Lucretia Berry on the podcast to teach us. Dr Berry (http://brownicity.com/) is the founder of Brownicity— Many Hues, One Humanity, an agency dedicated to advocacy, education, and support for racial healing and anti racism. She has dedicated her life to developing and teaching anti racism curriculum to college and high school students, adults through ministry and online, and of course within her own home as the mother of three beautiful daughters. In this episode, Dr. Berry teaches us how to talk to our kids about skin tone and race through these three takeaways: How to Talk to Your Kids About Skin Tone with BrownicityReject the colorblind approach as a solution to racism. Normalize conversations about skin tone and race with your children so they can consciously, fluently, and confidently navigate our hyper-racialized society.  Invest in an anti race/ism education to gain understanding (e.g. books, classes, podcasts, teachers, not informal discussions). Website: brownicity.com (http://brownicity.com/) Instagram: brownicity.com/learn (http://brownicity.com/learn/) for more information. To find children's books on this topic, please visit: https://3in30podcast.com/books/ (https://3in30podcast.com/books/) First Name Basis Podcast (http://firstnamebasis.libsyn.com/) (search on any podcast app!) Make sure to check out the other episodes in this series “You Are Your Child’s Most Important Teacher:” How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography (https://3in30podcast.com/educate-and-empower-your-kids/) with Dina Alexander. -This month’s episodes are brought to us by  The Mama Ladder (https://themamaladder.com/) ® that helps mamapreneurs GET. MORE. DONE. There’s no other business accelerator program like it for women, anywhere. Enrollment for Mama Power is open from September 14 to October 18. I have worked with The Mama Ladder® for over a year, and I was the founding member of Mama Power. To learn more about my experience, go to  3in30podcast.com/mamapower. (http://3in30podcast.com/mamapower) How do you talk to your kids about skin tone? Do you use Brownicity? Share in a comment below!

Wondering how to start the sex talks with your kids? Join us as we chat with Dina Alexander, author of the 30 Days of Sex Talks book series, and founder of Educate and Empower Kids.   Dina Alexander, MS, is the founder and CEO of Educate and Empower Kids. She is the creator of How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. Dina founded EEK after reading a simple article about teen porn consumption. As she tirelessly researched the unhealthy media, risky apps and other online dangers inundating our kids, she realized that she had to do everything in her power to warn and teach other parents. Besides raising her own children, it is her life’s work to help parents, teachers and community leaders raise strong, healthy kids who use technology for good in this new digital age.   Educate and Empower Kids (EEK) provides resources to parents and educators to encourage deep connection with their kids through media education, meaningful family communication and intentional parenting. We believe this must be done by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online pornography.   Highlights from this episode: -Kids are at different ages and stages. We need to tailor the talk to their developmental needs. -Work on getting over initial awkwardness. Learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. -Answer curious questions as quickly as you can. (We don’t want Google to answer for us!) -Add your values to the conversation. -Understand curiosity and establish yourself as the first, best source of information. We want our kids come to us for answers. -Teach the difference between healthy sex and pornography.   Links/Resources: 30 Days of Sex Talks: Ages 3 to 7 (Book) 30 Days of Sex Talks: Ages 8 to 11 (Book) 30 Days of Sex Talks: Ages 12+ (Book) Sexual Health: 4 Strategies for Easy Parent/Child Talks (Parents Aware Article) Child On Child Harmful Sexual Behavior with Dawn Hawkins (Raising Today’s Kids Podcast) Below is a handout from Educate and Empower Kids that outlines appropriate sex talk topics for different age groups. If you’d like the handout in .pdf format, shoot us an email at mediasavvymoms@gmail.com, SUBJECT: EEK Handout OR click on the link at the top of this post.

When it comes to parenting, people are full of advice--both good and bad. But what do you say when someone gives you bad parenting advice regarding pornography? Today we’re going to give you some talking points to handle those sometimes awkward situations!  We recently had a mind-boggling experience in an online parenting group. A mother was seeking advice regarding her 12-year-old who was using online pornography. In response, several other parents recommended that she give him porn magazines to help him fight the urge to look at online porn. Wait … what? (Related: Parenting, Porn and Not-So-Common Sense)  We realize bad parenting advice is not a new phenomenon. (Melody’s pediatrician actually recommended rubbing bourbon on her son’s gums when he was teething!) And people have their own ideas about a variety of parenting issues--from pacifiers to sleeping arrangements to curfews. But when it comes to pornography, bad advice can be very, very harmful to our children. If someone is giving you bad advice--for example, recommending that you show your child pornography--and telling you that it has great benefits, you might feel like we did in this situation: “This makes no sense!” But do you know how to articulate that? Here are some talking points to help you express yourself in those tricky situations: Porn is like a drug Porn exploits human beings Porn is an illusion  I. PORN IS LIKE A DRUG -When you are talking to other parents about pornography, you might want to focus on brain science. -Did you know that pornography has the same effect on the brain as hard drugs like heroine and cocaine? -Check out Pornography addiction: A Neuroscience perspective by Dr. Donald Hilton to learn more. -Learn about How Porn Changes the Brain at Fight the New Drug, an organization dedicated to educating teens and young adults on the dangers of pornography. -Porn is especially dangerous for kids because their brains are still developing, and they don’t have a fully functioning prefrontal cortex, the neural center for impulse control, problem solving, and executive functioning. Current research says this area of the brain is not fully developed until age 32! (The Dana Foundation, 2017) -The book Brainstorm by Dr. Siegel talks about how children are gathering and absorbing information adolescents are sorting information. -Our children’s brains are a like a garden that isn’t specialized yet, which makes them so much more vulnerable to weeds--like pornography! Wondering how to talk about healthy intimacy with your kids? Check out the books, 30 Days of Sex Talks for Ages 3 to 7; 30 Days of Sex Talks for Ages 8 to 11; and 30 Days of Sex Talks for Ages 12+ from Educate and Empower Kids.  II. PORN EXPLOITS HUMAN BEINGS -We need to be willing to draw a line in the sand. -When we take a stance against porn, we’re taking a moral stance against the exploitation of human beings -It is fundamentally wrong to commodify and sell other people. This is what pornography is. And it's not fair to our kids if we don't help them make that connection. -In the 1950’s Alfred Kinsey set out to educate the United States about sex, and Hugh Heffner volunteered to be his “leafleteer.” Judith Reisman’s work on Kinsey and Heffner should put some perspective on our popular culture attitudes regarding sexualization, objectification, and pornography. -A few years ago, we heard Ed Smart testify on Capitol Hill about his daughter’s kidnapping. Elizabeth Smart made a direct connection between her abductor using pornography and grooming her for rape, and talked about how the encounters were worse and more violent after he had viewed pornography. -We also came upon a study in which people were given quotes about women from convicted rapists and from men’s magazines. Then they asked the test subjects to label which came from which. Most could not distinguish the source. -Dr. Mary Ann Layden’s work points out that the degrading effects of pornography lead us to a place that “we even stop seeing each other as human.”  “There’s an interesting series of studies that actually highlights a bit of the phenomena of how this works. They were showing people just mildly sexualized pictures. They were men and women in swimsuits, men and women in their underwear, sort of relatively mild sexualized pictures and they showed them either upside right or upside down and looked at the processing in the brain, because it will display a phenomena of which part of your brain you’re using to process that picture that you see. What we see with men, when people look at men, and look at them in their swimsuits or in their underwear, they’re using the part of their brain that processes humans and human faces but when we look at women in their swimsuits and their underwear we use the part of our brain that processes tools and objects and when you process a woman as a tool or an object you use. The rules that we use when we deal with tools or objects is if it’s not doing its job then throw it away, get another one. So the feminists years ago said these men are treating women as sex objects and we thought that was a metaphor. It wasn’t a metaphor. It was an actual statement of reality, that they’re using the part of their brain which they use to process objects and things and there’s a consequence in the society when you start treating sex as a product and women as a thing.” (Mary Ann Layden in “Feminism’s self-defeating about-face on porn”)  Want more tips? Check out the book How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography from Educate and Empower Kids.  III. PORN IS AN ILLUSION -Pornography teaches kids to have unrealistic ideas about sex. -In our “Smooch Around Your Kids” episode we talked about Dr. John Foubert’s research, in which he calls pornography the “perfect recipe for rape” -Pornography teaches our kids to believe lies like “pain is pleasure” -Pornography focuses on physical appearance, risky behavior, and exaggerated aspects of sex -Have you ever been to the circus and seen performers doing amazing things, like folding in half, or hanging by their hair--and doing it all with a smile? It’s not because they’re not in pain. It’s because they have trained themselves to smile in spite of the pain--to put on the makeup and the glittering clothes and the loud music and give a good show to distract you from the fact that they are in agony. It is an illusion. Pornography is based on the same concepts used in the circus. -Unfortunately our kids are learning these lies too well. Recently a juvenile was arrested for strangling his girlfriend while making out in a parked car. As it turns out, they had started kissing, and then he strangled her because he had seen it done in porn and thought that’s what she would want. In reality, he almost killed her, and ended up terrified and called 9-1-1 for help. -Melody has worked with betrayed wives for years. One woman who was sexually abused by her husband said that he used to act out things he had seen in pornography and then tell her, “but the girls in the porn liked it.” He could not process the fact that these girls were acting. It was fake. It is abuse. It does not feel good in real life. -We need to teach our children the truth. We need to “pull back the curtain of the magic show” and teach them the reality behind the illusions: -When we abuse people, it hurts! -Real people don’t look like that (enhanced, airbrushed, etc.) -Porn is not healthy sex, and healthy sex is not porn--these are two very different things -Article: Teaching Kids to Interpret Media Illusions  Challenge: Pick one talking point from this episode and share it on social media: 1) Porn is like a drug; 2) Porn exploits human beings; 2) Porn is an illusion. Educate another parent about why porn harms kids!    

Subscribe to our podcast on: iTunes – Google Play – Youtube – Stitcher Radio – Spotify – Alexa/Echo– Web Player Melody Bergman from MediaSavvyMoms.com shares WHY we need to talk with kids about pornography, WHEN you should start the dialog, and HOW you can begin this very important conversation. Media Savvy Moms online: https://www.mediasavvymamas.com/ Book Links: How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography: 2nd Edition by Educate and Empower Kids https://amzn.to/2CzHmcj Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Protect Young Minds Hardcover – 2017 by Kristen A. Jenson (Author), Debbie Fox (Illustrator) https://amzn.to/2FkL4Hr Next Steps for Podcast Listeners: --> Register for our new free social media safety webinar. Hire Josh Ochs to speak at your organization. Join our Smart Social Community Membership today: https://SmartSocial.com/join Join our newsletter to get access to our free guide: "How To Navigate Social Media with Your Student (A Parent Guide)" https://smartsocial.com/Newsletter Please share this episode with a friend and subscribe so we can help more parents. Thanks for all your support.

Are you connected with your loved ones? Do your kids talk to you about their feelings? Does your family set aside regular and routine time to talk and connect without electronics? This is a struggle many families face today. With technology being so widely accessible, families can often not even realize that they are connecting to their screens, but not to each other. What can we do to foster and facilitate genuine connection and conversation with our children, family members, and significant others? Authentic Relationships Built On Trust Kat Rowan says that she has found a way that works. Kat is the founder and Creative Director of TiffinTalk, and says that her company offers a unique way to facilitate conversation between parents and children. More specificially, Kat wanted to help children develop and maintain critical and creative thinking skills in helping all people talk to one another directly, without technology as an intermediary. The result was TiffinTalk, a company that makes daily cards that encourage people to talk to each other, that began with more than 4000 homemade lunch notes for her daughters. Kat explains, "It’s really amazing to me, and it still is amazing, the power of talk. There is so much research out there, that points to the addictive behaviors that we’re having with technology and how it is interfering with our empathy and our personal relationships because we’re not talking. A text message is not talking." Honesty Helps Build Connection Connection is a basic human need and having connected relationships gives way to authentic honesty and vulnerability, which is essential in feeling unconditionally loved and developing empathy and other social skills. Anne, founder of Betrayal Trauma Recovery, said her children love anticipating the cards for the next day and collecting them throughout the week. Anne goes on to describe her experience using the cards with her son, saying, "He absolutely loved it. He wanted to talk about how he’s a little bit lonely and he’d like to change that. I didn’t have any advice for him, I just said I’m not sure, what do you think you would do? I didn’t realize how excited they would be to really talk about things and how it would foster openness and sharing." Kat adds, "Every child deserves one-on-one time with their parent, even if we can’t do it every day and we have to just squeeze it in, but where we turn off our technology. I say no pings, no rings, no dings. Just taking a few minutes with that child and giving them your full attention is so important. You really learn so much about them." Why Open Conversation Is Important During this Christmas or Hanukkah or holiday season, whatever it is for you, if you’re looking for awesome meaningful gifts for your kids, I encourage you to go to TiffinTalk.com, and also check out our books page. We’ve just redesigned it. We have so many books on our page that are really helpful for children and they’re excellent gifts for Christmas. Like Good pictures/Bad Pictures, and Good Pictures/Bad Pictures Jr, and How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography, and 30 days of Sex Talks. You can find all of the books that we have recommend here. A big giant thank you to all of you who donated for GivingTuesday. We really, really appreciate it. If you missed supporting Betrayal Trauma Recovery on Tuesday, please donate today. Each donation helps women find us who may be isolated in their trauma find hope and healing. Full Transcript: Anne: Welcome to Betrayal Trauma Recovery, this is Anne. I have Kat Rowan, the founder and Creative Director of TiffinTalk on the podcast today. TiffinTalk is a company that makes cards that encourage people to talk to each other, starting with more than 4000 lunch notes for her daughters. Kat graduated from Wellesley with degrees in mathematics and psychology before going on to work as an educator, administrator, and consultant to major corporations. As an educator she taught classes, led departments,

Dina Alexander is the founder and president of Educate and Empower Kids (educateempowerkids.org), an organization determined to strengthen families by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online porn. She is the creator of Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good, Messages About Me: A Journey to Healthy Body Image, How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. She received her master’s degree in recreation therapy from the University of Utah and her bachelors from Brigham Young University. She is an amazing mom and loves spending time with her husband and three kids. Together, they live in Texas. Our kids need to be stronger than we are.  Our kids experience much tougher issues than we could have imagined as kids.  We need to be able to open up and have tough conversations with our kids about these issues. Smartphones are shaping our kids’ realities Be deliberate with the time we spend with our kids and the conversations we have.  Visualize what kind of adults you hope your kids become. Be deliberate about the activities you allow your kids to engage in, whether digital or otherwise. Be the example by showing them that your relationship with them is more important than our devices. Consume media that reflect your values. It’s a habit, a practice that you develop over time.  Regularly reevaluate habits to determine if they fit your values. Seek out useful ways to use technology, and set boundaries. Be deliberate for yourself!  Set a timer for limiting your own. Our phones have become coping tools.  Part of the conversation is asking our family what we do when we are tired, stressed, or alone. Always speak kindly about our bodies. Give our kids compliments about their character, and the abilities of their minds and bodies beyond aesthetics and looks. Give our kids opportunities to succeed so it develops their confidence and abilities, and sense of accomplishment. See Season 2 Episode 13 with Merrilee Boyack. Focus on health practices rather than body image. Don’t label foods as good or bad. (See EllynSatterInstitute.org) Keep sports fun for as long as you can. Be deliberate about what sports, and programs you select for your kids.  Do they bring you closer to your goals?  Talk to the teachers about your values. Speak kindly to yourself. Find more from Dina at educateempowerkids.org https://www.instagram.com/eduempowerkids/ (Instagram) Facebook Join the Family Success Toolkit Free Membership http://homeandfamilyculture.com

“If we get so caught up in how we look, how our friends look, if we look good enough, we are missing the richness of life.”   Dina Alexander is back to teach us how to combat the perfect images social media projects for the children in our lives.  BOTH boys and girls are constantly infiltrated with pictures and ideas about what their bodies are supposed to be like, and how they can get them.  Listen in to this conversation to learn how to create an open communication in your home where these tough topics can be fully explored.  Equip yourself with ways to arm your children the knowledge and self-respect necessary to own a confident, grounded view of themselves and their bodies.   Dina Alexander is the founder and president of Educate and Empower Kids (educateempowerkids.org), an organization determined to strengthen families by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online porn. She is the creator of Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good, Messages About Me: A Journey to Healthy Body Image, How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. She received her master’s degree in recreation therapy from the University of Utah and her bachelors from Brigham Young University. She is an amazing mom and loves spending time with her husband and three kids. Together, they live in Texas. Listen to this episode below, or on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Pocketcasts, Googleplay, or search for "About Progress" wherever you get your podcasts.  If you like the show, please subscribe!!     Show Notes Educate and Empower Kids website, Facebook, and all their books Educate and Empower Kids' books on body image, and book on technology   Dina's last interview on Technology Last week's episode with Mallory Wahlstrom Wright Interview with doula/childbirth educator Laura Dugovic Monica's Facebook and Instagram Monat Natural, Anti-Aging Hair Care: Contact Monica to learn more, OR research via her Monat Instagram and website Related: Monica's views on Sponsorship and WHY she's partnering with Monat Fabletics! Get 2 leggings for $24 when you become a VIP member (they're the besssssst!) (Affiliate link) Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link) Contact Monica More Podcasts from About Progress Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" and "Tonight" by Nicolai Heidlas

“Just like you and I lived at the mall or lived at the football game on Friday night, a lot of our kids are living on social media . . . I want my kids to make their mistakes while still living with me.  You want to give them parameters but also you want to give them the opportunity to make choices.”   We all worry about the incessant draw that technology is having on our children these days.  You see the debates on Facebook and hear the tense conversations amongst parents: How much tech-use is appropriate?  How can we limit screen time?  When should children be allowed to use technology?   Before we can answer all that, however, we need to be asking the more appropriate question, as posed by Dina Alexander: "How can we empower our children to use technology responsibly and for good?"   Dina is the founder of the non-profit Educate and Empower Kids, which strives to help parents "parent in the digital age" by preparing their children, not scaring them.  She is an expert on so many hard topics we need to discuss with our children from technology, body image, to pornography.  Today, she shares her well-researched views on what we can do to help our children learn to make wise choices with technology by building an open communication with them, one based on openness and love, not shame. Dina Alexander is the founder and president of Educate and Empower Kids (educateempowerkids.org), an organization determined to strengthen families by teaching digital citizenship, media literacy, and healthy sexuality education—including education about the dangers of online porn. She is the creator of Noah’s New Phone: A Story About Using Technology for Good, Messages About Me: A Journey to Healthy Body Image, How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography and the 30 Days of Sex Talks and 30 Days to a Stronger Child programs. She received her master’s degree in recreation therapy from the University of Utah and her bachelors from Brigham Young University. She is an amazing mom and loves spending time with her husband and three kids. Together, they live in Texas. Show Notes Educate and Empower Kids website, Facebook, and all their books Educate and Empower Kids' books on body image, and book on technology    Recent interview with Dr. Jennifer Finlayson-Fife: "Get Over Yourself" Jennifer Finlayson-Fife's website and Holiday DEAL! Jennifer's past interviews with About Progress on perfectionism and goodness (doing things for the right reasons) Monica's Facebook and Instagram Monat Natural, Anti-Aging Hair Care: Contact Monica to learn more, OR research via her Monat Instagram and website Related: Monica's views on Sponsorship and WHY she's partnering with Monat Fabletics! Get 2 leggings for $24 when you become a VIP member (they're the besssssst!) (Affiliate link) Free Audiobook through Audible! (Affiliate link) Contact Monica More Podcasts from About Progress Song Credit: "Sweet Promise" and "Tonight" by Nicolai Heidlas

Dina Alexander, Executive Director of Educate and Empower Kids, joins Tray and Mel in this episode to talk about some of the brand-new books and resources just released by her organization. 30 Days of Sex Talks, 30 Days to a Stronger Child, and How to Talk to Your Kids About Pornography are all designed to equip parents as they engage the hearts of their children on these important topics. Discover more about Educate and Empower Kids by going to their web site at www.educateempowerkids.org. If you are enjoying the show, please consider giving us a rating and review and sharing it with a friend!