167: How Mothers Against Media Addiction Will Change the Landscape of Social Media + Phone Use for Kids with Founder, Julie Scelfo

Motherhood Meets Medicine

Media addiction among children is a huge problem. We know this and you know that I’ve been talking about it for a while. Thankfully there is a movement out there working to make changes at the policy level.

Enter MAMA - Mothers Against Media Addiction, founded by Julie Scelfo.

Julie is a former New York Times journalist, Media Ecologist and founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction, otherwise known as MAMA, a grassroots movement of parents fighting back against media addiction to create a world where real life experiences remain at the heart of childhood.

She is also a mother of three, and her years of reporting on the issue of phones and social media exposed her to the epidemic of youth mental illness, including increased suicide rates among teens and tweens, and the crisis that media addiction and unchecked Tech was causing. This led her to recognize the need for a movement of parents and allies focused on addressing the crisis of media addiction among our children.

Listen as we talk about everything from appropriate ages to introduce phones as well as what you can do at the local level to start enacting change and how MAMA can help.

In this episode, we discuss:

What inspired Julie to found Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA).

What their goals are.

How parents can get more involved on a community and national level.

How to handle phones and social media under your own roof.

Resources:

Badass Matriarch-https://lynzyandco.substack.com/

Mothers Against Media Addiction -https://www.joinmama.org/

NY Times - Suicide on Campus and the Pressure of Perfectionhttps://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/education/edlife/stress-social-media-and-suicide-on-campus.html

HuffPost - How To Prevent Suicide Among Tweenshttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/suicide-prevention-teens-tweens_n_5f764841c5b6374c558b68ca

NY Post – Opinion: Violence, bullying, suicide: It’s time to fight digital addiction in kids like drunk drivinghttps://nypost.com/2024/03/30/opinion/violence-bullying-suicide-we-must-fight-digital-addiction-in-kids-like-drunk-driving/

SF Chronicle – Opinion: The surgeon general warns that social media is dangerous for kids. Why aren’t medical professional associations?https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/social-media-teens-surgeon-general-18115800.php

Questions:

What inspired you to found Mothers Against Media Addiction?

How are we as a society misunderstanding social media and smartphones?

One of MAMA's main goals is phone-free schools. Can you speak about why that is such an important policy for you and do you find teachers, parents and students receptive to that proposal?

Disclaimer: This podcast does not provide medical advice. The information on this podcast is for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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