by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org
LEAWOOD — The internet can be a daunting place for children who aren’t equipped to navigate it safely.
Katie Kincaid-Longhauser likened giving today’s youth the digital tools they need to the parable of the lost sheep in chapter 15 of the Gospel of Luke.
“We’re bringing lost sheep out of dark places,” she said. “And I really believe the internet can be dark and scary and take kids down dark places where God doesn’t want them.
“Us teaching them this program is going to protect children and bring them back [to safety].”
The Screen Guardians
Longhauser, a graduate of Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park, is a former nurse whose three children attend Curé of Ars School in Leawood.
Her interest in digital wellness began when her oldest was little, and she saw that iPads were being introduced to young children without reservation.
Since then, she’s spent more than a decade researching and compiling data about digital safety for children. She’s consulted experts in law enforcement, neuroscience, mental health, cyber security and curriculum development.
The result is The Screen Guardians, which offers a podcast, K-12 school program and parent portal that are designed to equip schools, parents and children with tools to face the online world safely and together.
“The way we learned that smoking is bad for our lungs, and the way we know that smoking is addictive — I feel like [screen overuse] is going to be comparable to that,” said Longhauser.
“It doesn’t mean technology is all bad,” she added, “but over-consuming can be dangerous.”
Formula for success
The Screen Guardians program is currently being piloted at Curé, John Paul II School in Overland Park, the Syracuse school district in western Kansas and Faustina Academy in Irving, Texas.
It’s a 14-week, turnkey, teacher-delivered program taught for 30 to 40 minutes once a week and is organized based on grade levels.
Teachers are given all the materials they need, including a script, slides for each lesson and worksheets for the students. Topics include “My Brain and Screens,” “Feelings and Filters,” “CyberSavvy” and more.
The Screen Guardians also offers a parent companion so parents can see what their children are learning and engage in relevant conversations at home.
Janelle Campbell, whose three children attend Curé, said the program “feels like such an exhale.”
“My kids are coming home and having the most thoughtful and insightful conversations about what they’re learning,” she said.
“Before that, I was constantly fighting screens in my house,” she continued. “We were negotiating screen time. It was this back and forth, always this tension. Now, I feel like I’m not having that anymore.
“Once people know better, they do better — even kids.”
Campbell has noticed a difference in the wider school community, too.
“At one point, I would see kids showing up to play at my house with a tablet in their hand,” she said. “And now, they’re playing basketball in the driveway and riding bikes to the park and making backyard trampoline games.
“It’s not that constant requesting to be on screens.”
Community engagement
Katie O’Hara felt like she was on an island raising her two daughters, who attend John Paul II, without smartphones or tablets.
“Most of the parents that I talk to — no one wants to give their kid a smartphone,” she said. “But it’s one of those things where a lot of people feel like they need to.”
She believes The Screen Guardians is effective because it’s not about depriving kids of technology but encouraging them to think critically about how they’re using it.
“[It teaches] what happens to your brain when you’re on a device, what’s happening to you physically — your posture, your eyes,” said O’Hara. “It encompasses the whole person.”
Ali Dunn, whose three children attend Curé, said kids can’t be expected to understand the complexities of an ever-changing online world on their own.
“I think this initiative has brought awareness to technology, devices, social media and even how our kids learn,” said Dunn.
“It’s also helped create community around this topic,” she continued. “We are all learning so much about technology all the time. Knowing we’re all in this together helps to make it feel more manageable.”
Cause for concern
“As a society, we’re starting to see the real impact of kids being raised with tablets in their hands,” said Campbell, “and we’re seeing the impact on their attention and their emotional regulation and social development — or lack thereof.
“And when that constant overstimulation starts to become normal for their little brains, then they’re constantly seeking it and can lose their ability to tolerate boredom or know when their body needs rest or seek out real connection with other human beings.”
O’Hara said the nature of smartphones as sources of dependence is troubling.
“My worry is we’re creating this addictive behavior in very, very young children,” she said.
Another major challenge children face online is digital mistakes.
“One of the things in our program I’m the most proud of is what we call the recovery plan,” said Longhauser. “It’s how to teach children to navigate when they make a mistake.”
Longhauser cited children who have taken their own lives after making digital mistakes because they feel like they can’t come back from them.
The program prompts children to identify how they will navigate a digital mistake — like posting something inappropriate, writing an unkind comment or clicking a link they shouldn’t have — and the trusted adults they will talk to.
It also provides a response plan so children know how to handle an online predator situation without fear or shame.
“It’s like a fire drill or tornado drill,” said Longhauser. “You preplan how you’re going to navigate it.”
Source of empowerment
Longhauser understands how complex the topic of screen use is.
“I think it’s such a battleground for parents,” she said, “and I think it’s a place where parents feel lonely and there’s shame because I do it this way and somebody else does it a different way.
“I want it to be a place where there’s not shame, but knowledge empowers parents to make healthy choices out of love and care.”
She hopes The Screen Guardians will be a resource for even more families and schools in the archdiocese.
“I believe it is something that every school needs,” she said. “I believe every kid, every parent, every teacher benefits from this.
“And I hope we can reach them.”
To learn more about The Screen Guardians, visit: thescreenguardians.com or send an email to Longhauser at: katie@thescreenguardians.com.
