Before discussing the impact, Dr. Greenhaw explains that social media consists of internet-based platforms and applications that enable users to create personal profiles, post content, and interact with user-generated content, as well as to form and maintain online social networks and communities.

 Dr. Greenhaw emphasizes the importance of parental involvement.

“The platforms most used by children and adolescents in the United States are TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat, with Twitch, Discord, Pinterest, Reddit, and WhatsApp also playing significant roles in specific subgroups,” said Dr. Greenhaw.

 According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, children ages 8 to 18 in the United States spent an average of 7.5 hours a day using screens in 2025.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Roblox

Two areas not always categorized as social media include AI chatbots and Roblox.

Roblox: While primarily a video game, it features elements of social media, such as personal profiles, avatars and the ability to chat with strangers during gameplay.

The platform is incredibly popular and includes many red flags for potential harm, including its engagement-prolonging design, behavioral reinforcers and major concerns for privacy.

“It carries many of the same risks as social media,” said Dr. Greenhaw.

Artificial Intelligence: Web-based tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are creating "parasocial" interactions, where children and teenagers may begin to view AI chatbots as friends or confidantes.

“Given the difficulty of traditional measures to monitor children’s use of this technology, open communication is key for detecting problematic or potentially harmful use,” said Dr. Greenhaw.

Generally, parents want to be informed about their children’s internet use. Creating an open space for frequent communication increases awareness of how children are spending their time online. If a parent is not first aware, they cannot intervene.

"Social media use may lead to worsening mental health outcomes if it includes exposure to cyberbullying, harmful content, algorithmic feeds or engagement-prolonging design," said Dr. Greenhaw.

 For Younger Children

• Emotional Regulation: Children can develop a stunted ability to manage their emotions if they rely too heavily on digital platforms for stimulation or distraction.

 For Adolescents

• Mental Health: Teens with higher baseline depressive symptoms may increase social media use over time, which can lead to negative social comparisons.
• Body Image: Appearance-focused platforms like Instagram and TikTok have a significant impact on how adolescents view their bodies.

 Healthy Digital Habits

• Create a Family Media Plan: Establish screen-free times for the entire family and set clear boundaries.
• Select High-Quality Content: Prioritize content that models social-emotional skills or tailored learning goals, such as math or reading.
• Set Intentional Limits: Be deliberate about when your child receives their first personal device.
• Protect Sleep: Ensure devices are put away well before bedtime to prevent interference with rest.

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• Expert Tips for a Safe Spring Break: Aim for Safety

This current tic phenomenon is primarily impacting teen girls, many of whom have no previous history of tics. That’s not typical for most tic disorders, such as Tourette syndrome. Tourette’s is a neurological movement disorder that is more common among boys and typically starts between ages 5 and 7 years.

Zelime Elibol, M.D., a pediatric neurologist with a special interest in cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders and director of Cook Children’s Tourette Syndrome Clinic, says the majority of tics observed in this current surge are called functional tics. Functional neurologic symptoms are not associated with any known neurologic cause. There is no structural damage to the brain or a lesion causing them, like in the case of a stroke or multiple sclerosis. Something is wrong, but it’s difficult to identify a physical cause, and it’s not likely to respond to typical medical treatments for tics.

An article published in the British journal “Archives of Disease in Childhood” in March, shed light on the issue. It detailed both an increase in tic symptoms during the pandemic among adolescents already diagnosed with tic disorders, as well as a sharp rise in the sudden and new onset of tic-like attacks among teenage girls. Pandemic stress and social media may be to blame, according to the article’s authors.

The piece highlights a recurring factor at play with this new set of functional tic disorders—the viral TikTok trend of showing one’s tic attacks. Views of #tourettes videos doubled between January and February 2021, and some teen girls report an increased consumption of these videos prior to onset of symptoms. Some also said they post videos of their own tic attacks and gain a level of support and attention from them, according to the article.

We sat down with Dr. Elibol to learn more about functional tic disorders and what parents and caregivers need to know about the recent rise in cases.

How common are tics in general?

About 25% of children will develop tics during early childhood, known as developmental tic disorders. The most common are called transient tics. They get them for a period of time, but they’re gone within a year. A much smaller percentage, about 1%, go on to have what we call chronic tics that last more than a year, often many years. Aside from developmental tic disorders, there are medical and metabolic disorders that cause tics. There are also medications that may cause tics as a side effect.

What are you seeing in your own practice right now related to functional tics?

We see functional neurologic disorder symptoms at times, meaning we see neurologic symptoms that contradict known patterns of disease and are often thought to have a psychological underpinning. They’ve always been around, but there is a notable increase right now. Specifically, what I’m seeing in my practice is a significant increase in explosive tics in otherwise healthy adolescents with a normal neurologic exam. So far, all of my functional tic patients are adolescent girls with symptom onset well after 11 years old and, by this age, 95% of Tourette patients will have already developed tics.

This is outside of the norm for typical tic disorders, like Tourette syndrome, which more often occur in boys between ages 5 and 7, and wax and wane over time. Some of the children I see with Tourette’s do have severe tics, but that’s a little less common. The tics in the girls I’m seeing right now are all very severe. I would describe them as tic attacks, where they have these sudden attacks of various and complicated vocalizations, curse words, body movements, sometimes hitting themselves and hitting others. They often are not waxing and waning, but sustained and so severe that they can’t go to school. There is a typical course, evolution and appearance for most developmental tic disorders. This current wave of functional tics I’m seeing does not follow that typical course and does not improve with tic medication.

What do you think has caused this increase in tic attacks?

Kids with functional neurologic disorders will sometimes deny that they are experiencing any type of psychological stress, but over time, they often recognize that something was, in fact, going on. They’ll return and say they were actually super anxious or even suicidal, and it started coming out in this physical way. There is an evolving theory behind functional neurologic disorders that a predisposing factor is an impairment in emotional processing and difficulty identifying one’s own internal emotional states.

I think the pandemic is playing a significant role in the increase. I’ve never seen it to this degree or had this many functional patients present to my clinic. We’ve seen an increase in mental health struggles like anxiety and depression, and I think it’s triggered an increase in functional neurologic disorders.

Have your patients referenced pandemic stress and restrictions as a trigger for their tics?

My patients don’t necessarily say that they’re stressed because of the pandemic, but when I ask them when things got worse, almost all of them say it’s all been within the past year. Most of them look back and give a history of some anxiety or depression in the past with significant worsening within the last year, including the onset of tic attacks. A lot of them will say they don’t want to go to school for whatever reason or that school is stressful for them and, when they go back to school, they’ll have tic attacks and end up back at home.

Do the patients you see for tic attacks report watching more TikTok videos of someone with tics prior to the onset of their symptoms?

The TikTok factor is new to me. More recently, I’ve been asking my patients if they’ve seen it and they say yes. They’ll also show me videos they’ve recorded of themselves having tic attacks. They’re not necessarily posting their attack on TikTok, but a number of them do say they have seen the videos.

How do you counsel these patients and their parents? What course of treatment do you advise?

The most important thing I tell parents is that I don’t think their child is faking it or that they are crazy. There is something going on, we just have to get to the bottom of it. I have a very long discussion with them about functional neurologic disorders—how the brain is not functioning correctly but there is nothing structurally wrong with it, like a lesion. We talk about why I have diagnosed their child with functional tics versus another developmental tic disorder, like Tourette Syndrome, based on their medical history and the evolution of their symptoms. It’s worth noting that you can have both Tourette’s and functional tics, so that can be difficult to tease apart, but the majority of the increase I’m seeing right now are kids that have no past history of tics.

Then, we talk about what we can do to help their child. Tic medications do not help children with functional tics. We need to address their child’s anxiety and underlying mental health issues, whether it’s with depression and anxiety medication, or therapy, or a combination of both. I will refer them to a psychiatrist or counselor, if they don’t already have one. I have also recommended a type of cognitive behavioral therapy for tics, called CBIT (Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Tics), where they learn how to identify the things that trigger their tics and coping strategies such as relaxation and breathing techniques to help lessen their severity or stop them all together.

We’ll often work with schools to put a plan in place where the student can take a break or go to another room if they need to. But, we emphasize with the patient that this is not going to allow them to get out of their school work. They can take a break, but they need to return to class and complete their work. This is not a reason to go home for the day. It’s important that we have empathy and understanding for these patients and help them work their way through it, but also not allow the tics to keep them out of school.

I would also recommend to children and families to stop watching tic videos on social media. I don’t have a study where I can prove that watching these videos incites tics in others, but if you’re anxious and depressed and not processing your emotions, it’s going to come out in some way. If you are watching a lot of other teens showing their tics on social media and talking about their tic attacks, it makes sense that you might be influenced to release your stress in that way, too. Step away from social media for a while and focus on developing coping strategies for your stress and for managing your tics.

“She was always so happy. Everybody was her friend,” said Mary, Julia’s adoptive mother. “She did not know a stranger.”

Julia was the kind of person who trusted people easily. So years later, when a young woman reached out to her on social media, she didn’t think much about the individual wanting to be her friend. She began to correspond and eventually started meeting her at a local park where Julia liked to skateboard.

“We were so protective of her, and only started letting her go to the park by herself when she was 17,” said Mary. “Still, I would drive around to check on her. She would always say, ‘Mom, why are you always worrying?’ I would tell her, ‘That’s my job.’”

Mary was worried about the new friend in Julia’s life. Something seemed off. But, like most teenagers, Julia didn’t want to listen to her parents. After all, she had finished high school early and was working toward her dream job as a nursing assistant. Julia completed school in December, but hadn’t graduated yet. It was the week of prom when Mary last heard her daughter’s voice.

“She called me after her job interview and told me how it went, and then she said, ‘I’m going to stay with my friend for a couple of days, but I’ll be back in time to do prom stuff later this week,’” said Mary.

At the time, Julia was 18 and Mary knew she couldn’t tell her daughter what to do. Still, she didn’t like the plan.

“I said, ‘Okay, I can’t tell you not to, but I don’t want you to go,” she explained.

At 7:30 the next morning, two state troopers arrived at Mary’s home. They told her and her husband that Julia’s body had been found on a tollway in Dallas. From there, the truth about Julia’s friend unraveled. She was what law enforcement officials call a “bottom girl,” someone who manipulates and baits vulnerable victims into human trafficking. It turned out that Julia’s ‘friend’ had been paid by a human trafficking ringleader to deliver the teen for commercial sex trade. Mary believes Julia was thrown out of the vehicle when she would not comply.

Julia died on May 2, 2018, just 20 days before her graduation.

“Two hours later, my phone rang. It was the person who interviewed Julia calling to let her know she got the job,” said Mary. “That broke my heart all over again.”

This month, a grand jury in Collin County is expected to hear the case against the ringleader charged in Julia’s death. If the grand jury decides to indict, Mary says it will be the first ‘Death by Human Trafficking’ trial in Texas.

Mary and Chris are hoping their daughter’s death can save the lives of others. Working with Rep. DeWayne Burns, R-Cleburne, they’ve created a bill that, if signed into law, will require driver’s education students across Texas to be educated about human trafficking. It’s called ‘Julia’s Act.’

On April 7, Julia’s family testified in favor of the act in front of the House Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures. In an uncommon move, the act was voted out of the committee the same day, setting forth a high probability it will move to the full Texas House for a vote.

“People need education. They have to know that this happens. I wasn’t educated, and now I’m looking every day to see what else I can learn,” said Mary. “I felt like, if we could get it into the schools, then maybe kids would listen since it’s coming from someone else besides their parents.”

What is Human Trafficking?

A lot of confusion exists about human trafficking. It is not the same as human smuggling, and it rarely involves victims being kidnapped at random. Human trafficking is the process of “trapping people through the use of violence, deception or coercion and exploiting them for financial or personal gain.” Trafficking victims can be exploited for sex and/or labor. It occurs anytime anything of value is exchanged for sex, such as money, food, shelter or gifts.

At Cook Children’s Medical Center, the Child Advocacy Resources and Evaluation (CARE) Team treats human trafficking victims under the age of 17.

“Usually, these are kids who have already been abused. They may have a history of sexual abuse, or are runaways because they don’t have a stable home or are in foster care,” explained Stacey Henley, RN, nurse manager of the CARE Team. “We also see a lot of LGBTQ kids whose parents kicked them out because of their sexual orientation.”

Henley describes human traffickers as ‘master manipulators’ who prey on the vulnerable.

“They are really, really good at understanding human needs and behaviors,” said Henley. “I know that sounds crazy to say, but they are looking at what the person needs, whether it’s love, food or a place to live and they’re fulfilling that need.”

She says knowing how many human trafficking victims are out there is nearly impossible because it’s heavily underreported. Part of the issue is that those being exploited often don’t see themselves as victims.

“A lot of times, the victim will say the trafficker is their boyfriend. They’re being manipulated, which is part of the problem because often teachers and medical professionals are looking for someone who’s wide-eyed and mouthing, ‘Help me,’ but that’s not what happens,” Henley said. “They’re not going to say, ‘I need help, get me out of this,’ so we have to look for other clues.”

To aid with this, Henley is leading the implementation of a child sex trafficking screening tool currently in use at Cook Children’s. Her hope is that a few questions asked by clinical therapists may uncover victims hiding in plain sight.

She also points out that human trafficking is a form of child abuse and should be treated as such. Sadly, the CARE Team has seen many cases of parents trafficking their own children, usually for drugs.

“It’s really sad. The best thing we can do is get them into a stable environment and help them get the resources they need for counseling,” said Henley.

Taking Down Predators

The Human Trafficking Unit at the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Department is dedicated to taking as many predators off the streets as possible. With three investigators and a lieutenant, the unit carries out operations each month focused on helping victims and arresting human traffickers and their clients.

“When we find people who are being trafficked, we look at them as victims and set them up with an organization called Unbound Fort Worth that will help them get out of that situation,” said Detective Chris Jarvis, an investigator on the Human Trafficking Unit.

The unit also performs operations focused on the online solicitation of minors, in which they go undercover online posing as children. Detective Jarvis says they regularly catch adults who are trying to solicit sex from kids on the internet.

“Parents need to be involved with what their child is doing online,” he said. “Check their phones, make sure you’re reading their messages and know who they are talking to.”

He says some of the apps that predators use most often include:

• Facebook
• Kik
• Instagram
• Whisper
• Grindr
• Skout
• Meet me

“These are some of the biggest sites that children get on. People can go on there and talk to your child. The more experienced ones can actually find locations, even without asking,” said Detective Jarvis.

This situation is not unusual to the CARE Team at Cook Children’s. Though not always through human trafficking, young patients are frequently seen after being sexually assaulted by an adult they met online.

“I recently saw a victim who met a man on Whisper. It happens, and parents need to be looking for these apps on their kids’ phones,” said Henley.

If lured into human trafficking, Detective Jarvis says it can be extremely difficult to escape. He says traffickers isolate victims from friends and family members, take them to places that are unfamiliar and watch everything they do. They also tattoo victims as a way to brand them. Common human trafficking tattoos include bar codes, lips, cartoon characters, initials and crowns.

Life expectancy for human trafficking victims is much lower than the average person. They’re often murdered or suffer the detriments of drug use and sexually transmitted diseases. That’s why it’s so important to get victims the help they need to overcome the manipulation, which often involves long-term counseling.

A Problem Everywhere

Christi Thornhill, APRN, director of the Trauma Program at Cook Children’s travels all over Texas speaking to medical professionals about human trafficking. She says there’s not a place she’s been that hasn’t seen this problem.

“Before I speak to a group, I always Google ‘human trafficking’ and the name of the town and it never fails,” said Thornhill. “I was in Mineola, Texas, with a population of 5,000 and found an article about a bust.”

She’s also seen victims from upper-class communities like Southlake and agrees that the hardest part about this crime is the manipulation piece.

“We’ve had people from all walks of life arrested for paying for sex with young victims. Police officers, judges, coaches, doctors, clergy members, teachers. Do you really think these kids are going to tell anyone?” she said.

Thornhill points out that believing claims of sexual abuse is one of the key things that people can do to prevent a child from falling into human trafficking. She says children who are sexually abused, but not believed by their adult caretaker, stand to suffer mentally, including loss of self-esteem and self-worth, making them easy prey for traffickers.

In addition to monitoring what children and teens are doing online, parents need to know who their kids are hanging out with.

“We’ve seen cases where kids are being recruited in schools, so it’s really important to be aware of what your child is doing and who they are friends with,” said Detective Jarvis.

It’s also important to note that not all trafficking victims are runaways or missing. The CARE Team at Cook Children’s has seen cases where kids are being trafficked while still living at home with their parents.

“I’ve seen kids who have been trafficked after school, but still make it home and sleep in their own bed at night,” said Henley. “When someone is profiting from someone else having sex with a child, that’s trafficking.”

Fighting Back

You can help deter human trafficking by keeping an eye on your neighborhood. Watch for suspicious activity such as multiple cars coming and going from homes, as well as different people at all times. If you see something strange, call the police.

Red flags to watch out for in kids include:

• Missing school
• Changes in demeanor and attitude
• Odd tattoos
• Seeming like they can’t make a decision or are being controlled

“It takes a community to keep an eye out and be aware of this,” said Detective Jarvis. “We can’t do it alone.”

As for Julia’s parents, they are continuing their push for human trafficking education and hoping to extend the requirement for all state license holders. They’re also hoping to enact stiffer penalties for those convicted of human trafficking.

“The thing that really got me is that we are in a small town,” said Mary. “But going through the process and learning what I’ve learned, it doesn’t matter where you live. These people are looking for anyone willing to talk to them, and they prey on the brokenhearted.”

Hospitalist nurse practitioner Amber Jewison and psychiatrist Kia Carter, M.D. were featured on the nationally-syndicated show “The Doctors” on Thursday, Nov. 5. The show highlighted a recent trend of TikTok videos that encourage viewers to take excessive amounts of the common allergy medicine diphenhydramine, aka Benadryl.

Cook Children’s first reported on these videos on Checkup Newsroom over the summer after three teens were admitted to the hospital for overdoses.

“We had three patients in a week who specifically told me they saw a video on TikTok that told them they could take Benadryl to get high, and it gave them a specific number (to take),” Amber said in an interview on "The Doctors." “When I viewed that video, I was pretty shocked.”

Patients who overdose on Benadryl can have abnormal electrocardiograms (EKGs) and may not be able to urinate. It’s even possible to suffer seizures. Amber has treated such patients and says parents are usually shocked to find out their child has overdosed.

“I try to tell parents that it’s really good to know what’s out there on social media and to be aware of what your kids may be doing,” she said.

And it’s not just shocking for parents. Medical professionals are also surprised to see healthy adolescents and teens taking part in these dangerous challenges.

“I was alarmed, I was extremely shocked that children are participating in something so lethal,” said Dr. Carter, who is also the medical director of Psychiatry at Cook Children’s. “Being a parent myself, it’s petrifying to think about the idea of my pre-adolescent daughter participating in this.”

So why do teens participate in dangerous viral challenges like the one involving Benadryl?

“I think people have to realize that children’s brains are not fully developed like an adult and judgement and executive function are a huge part in making decisions. When we see kids participating in these high-risk behaviors, we have to remember that their brains are not fully developed,” said Dr. Carter. “There’s some research also to show that social media and participating in these challenges is activating the reward center in the brain, which can cause kids to become further attached to participating in these challenges.”

Dr. Carter says it’s also important to realize the difference between a child participating in an online challenge, and one who is actively trying to harm themselves. She says kids who are taking part in challenges because they want to fit in are usually active and part of a social group. Kids who are taking medicines or over-the-counter substances to harm themselves are often excluded or bullied on social media.

Her advice for parents - be aware.

“Know what your children are doing on social media, participate and ask questions,” Dr. Carter said.

After all, this is a modern classic. So much so that October 3 has become #MeanGirlsDay.

From Heathers to Mean Girls, these ‘rites of passage’ movies have given us insight into the lives of teenage girls. While they may be full of snobs, cliques and at times, cruel behavior, they can’t fully prepare any girl for the reality of social bullying.

Parents, you may know social bullying all too well and not even realize it. This occurs when a group decides to leave someone out on purpose or tells other kids not be friends with a certain child or teen.

But unlike your favorite teen movie, there's not always a happy ending for the kids being bullied.

Social bullying, along with verbal bullying, is often referred to as “mean girl” behavior, said Lisa Elliott, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and clinic manager of Cook Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic in Denton.

She says this form of bullying also includes name-calling, backstabbing, gossiping and spreading rumors.

“When ‘mean girls’ take this negative and aggressive behavior into the world of social media, it now includes cyberbullying, making it even more hurtful and instilling feelings of powerlessness,” Elliott said. “This can be quite painful and has the potential to be psychologically harmful.”

Girls may engage in this type of behavior for several reasons, including:

• Peer pressure.
• Trying to improve their status on the social ladder.
• Excluding those who may be perceived as a threat to their social status.

Regardless of the type of bullying, three elements are generally present:

1. An imbalance of power.
2. Aggressive behavior intended to hurt someone emotionally and/or physically.
3. Pleasure in observing the pain (or assuming there is pain) caused to the person being bullied.

Elliott says your daughter’s response to the mean girl is key.

“All bully behavior is intended to empower the bully, so your daughter’s response is critical – she must be able to acknowledge what the “mean girl(s)” are doing, but also communicate that they don’t have emotional power over her,” Elliott said.

She says if the victim communicates any type of negative emotion (verbally and/or nonverbally) – whether that be pain, hurt, rejection, fear, anger, frustration etc. then she has validated the bully. The bully will only be encouraged to continue the “mean girl” behavior, simply because it empowers them.

Instead, girls should try to respond to the bullies by using select words such as ‘so,’ ‘OK,’ ‘who cares,’ ‘whatever’ and ‘big deal.’

“These words communicate ‘I hear you, but you have no impact on me,’” Elliott said. “However, equally important is the tone in which these words are communicated. It is critical these words are conveyed with NO emotion! If ‘mean girls’ pick up on any emotional weakness, they will continue the negative behavior.”

Another strategy to apply is humor, where you laugh at yourself thus deflecting any hurtfulness.

“It’s important your daughter displays confidence and can defend herself in an assertive manner that is respectful, does not lower her to their level and does not encourage them,” Elliott said.

In addition to having a prepared response, Elliott encourages girls to stay strong, appear confident and smile, primarily because “mean girls” are quite adept at discerning which girls they can manipulate and control. The more confident your daughter portrays herself (not appearing dejected, insecure, hurt, nervous, left-out), the less likely the “mean girls” will repeat their aggressive behavior to her.

Equally important is being a positive bystander. If your daughter sees “mean girl” behavior happening to others, ask her not to stand by and watch. When “mean girls” do not have an audience, they lose power.

To foster your daughter’s self-confidence, help her find areas she can feel success in, such as school, sports, church, community service clubs, or talents like singing or playing an instrument.

You should also monitor her computer and cell phone, and encourage her to spend less time on social media. If bullying expands onto social media, then you need to talk to her teacher, coach or another school official.

While we’ve addressed “mean girls” in this article, no child is bully-proof.

Elliott points to the death of David Molak, a 16-year old San Antonio boy, as an example of the harm that comes from the constant harassment a child receives in the world of cyber bullying. She offers parents the following talking points when speaking to their child about bullying:

• Even people who say they're your friends can bully you.
• You should confront your friends when they're being hurtful to you or others.
• Retaliating may feel good temporarily, but refusing to stoop to the bully's level will win you more popularity in the long run.
• When you hear a false rumor, just ignore it and be yourself.
• You're most likeable when you respect yourself and others.
• Bullies usually have their own insecurities. Returning meanness with kindness is the best way to break down their defense.

In the end, kids should know they may be the best resources to end bullying where they live.

Stories related to this topic:

• Bullying is a ‘serious public health problem’
• Are popular kids bullied?
• Is your teen's smart phone making them depressed?
• The warning signs of teen suicide
• Cutting: Why kids do it

We moved into a new home about three weeks ago. Amid the chaos of boxes and a not quite finished remodel job, I hear the laughter of my kids upstairs. I head up to check on them and realize they are “playing nicely.”  What is interesting is that we have had no access to TV for three weeks. Could there be a connection between my kids getting along and no TV?  What are the results of being unplugged?

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for kids under 2 and less than 2 hours per day of media time for kids older than 2 years of age. Why? Because too much media is associated with aggression, inattention, anxiety, depression, sleep problems and obesity in our kids.

We call it TV head at my house. It is a lazy Saturday morning. The kids lounge in front of the TV for a few hours watching a movie. The next thing I know there is fighting, yelling and disagreement between my children. My son never quite recovers the rest of the day. He is a little “fuzzy headed” and a little grumpy.

Many of my patients have found harmony at home by decreasing media time. My parents have returned with true amazement at the difference in their kids once they have unplugged, especially in the evenings. They have reported healthier and happier kids. A number of my families have decided to unplug for the summer, which in all honesty, is probably the hardest time to do so, especially when it is hot outside and not much to do inside. Enter Mrs. Aubrey Conklin, one of the most fun and down to earth moms I have ever met.  I discussed the benefits of decreased media with her at the recent well-child exams for her three children. She is open minded enough to try it, and kind enough to let us join her on this journey.

Watch for Aubrey’s blogs this summer. She will be reporting in on how she and her family are doing cutting back on screen time.