Doug Smith's Blog, page 4

A Great Interview with ScreenStrong Podcast

I recently had the honor of appearing on the ScreenStrong Families Podcast. I think the 25-minute interview with Marketing Director Mandee Hamann is one of the most helpful I’ve done. If you need encouragement to become more intentional with screens — yours or your family’s — I think you’ll appreciate this episode. If so, please ...

Kellogg’s And Blues Clues: Lying With Pride, Destroying Our Kids

It’s so hard to see a delusion for what it is when you’re immersed in it. When everything you see and hear and feel confirm the powerful propaganda. But lies are obvious to anyone on the outside. And it’s so easy to just go along — to float on the raging river of lies. We ...

With “Play Something”, Netflix Attacks More Of Your Brain

Netflix — an enemy of your intentional life — deployed a new weapon in their desire-shaping arsenal a couple weeks ago. It’s a deceptively helpful sounding button titled: “Play Something”. According to Netflix’s own announcement: “There are times when we just don’t want to make decisions. A Friday evening after a long work week. A fridge ...

We’re Confused About Social Media

The confusion about social media is a misunderstanding about what it is, and what it’s for. Most people think it’s a tool for connecting with family and friends. For sharing pictures with grandparents. For announcing important things. For convenient conversation. But social media is actually none of those things. Social media is an advertising platform ...

On Homeschooling #3: Technology

This is the third in a series of short interview questions produced by Alpha and Omega Publishing. AOP asked for my thoughts on technology and homeschooling. In today’s episode, I challenge us to understand the battle we’re facing with our kids and technology, and help our kids aspire to a higher purpose. We are here ...

On Homeschooling #2: Present for the Moments

This is the second in a series of short interview questions produced by Alpha and Omega Publishing. AOP asked for my thoughts on technology and homeschooling. This short clip encourages us to hang in there through the daily challenges of homeschooling so that we can be present for so many “firsts”. Being present is a ...

On Homeschooling #1: Forming a Positive Counter-Culture

This is the first in a series of short interview questions produced by Alpha and Omega Publishing. AOP asked for my thoughts on technology and homeschooling. This first clip sets the stage for the rest by encouraging new homeschooling families to form a positive counter-culture in their home, intentionally. It’s vital to communicate why you’re ...

Grateful for Book Awards!

My book, [Un]Intentional: How Screens Secretly Shape Your Desires, and How You can Break Free, has received some nice recent recognition. First, it won a Silver medal in the 2020 Illumination Book Awards for the Self-Help/Recovery category. These national awards “are designed to honor and bring increased recognition to the year’s best new titles written ...

Don’t Surrender Your Kids To A Screen-Shaped World

Why do we accept the dominant narrative that our kids live in a different world? An October 2019 article by Julie Jargon in the Wall Street Journal claims to help parents better understand their other-worldly teens. It’s called: “Teens Explain Their YouTube Obsession (Because Adults Don’t Get It)”. The embedded video says: “Teens Explain YouTube ...

Pushing Reset On Your Family’s Relationship With Screens [Guest Post]

Sally Matheny invited me to share with her audience on the subject of my new book, so I wrote a guest post entitled Pushing Reset On Your Family’s Relationship With Screens. In the post, I share five steps towards a family reset with your devices. I think #4 is extra important: “You go first.” Sally ...