Dec 28, 2016

Book Review: Growing Up Social

The average American child and teenager spends at least 53 hours a week with technology, directly in front of screens. That's a lot more time than they spend interacting with parents and other people. This world of constant digital distraction and attention (screens are everywhere!) means that children aren't growing up the way we did. Memories of playing in back yards, bushes, and other 'wild places' might be absent from today's childhood. Curling up with a good book, being read to, and participating in family discussions are not part of many of today's children's experiences.

Gary Chapman. and Arlene Pellicane have written Growing Up Social to empower parents to make positive changes, away from an over-dependence on screens. They include how to teach skills that every healthy person needs to master: affection, appreciation, anger management, apology, and attention. Love languages are also covered. This book helps parents set a healthy balance so that their family can live with screen time, not for it. This will not happen unless there is intentionality and this book is the ticket to practical help.

In many ways, this is much more than a book about living with technology today. It's about how to have a healthy family in a world where varied distractions take us away from the relationships we value the most. I'm sure we have all experienced times when we haven't felt valued by those we love. This book includes practical ideas, quizzes, and discussion questions to help families focus on  and show respect to each other.

This book is relevant to anyone who values their relationships with those closest to them and is willing to take steps to improve communication, resulting in a healthy balance between digital and face to face communications.

This would be a great gift for those with young children. In this ever changing, challenging world, parents need all the help they can get in raising healthy, well adjusted, happy children.

I received this book free from Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review.


7 comments:

  1. I think this book should be required reading of any parent with young children. It is amazing to go out to a restaurant and to see all the young kids on their devices while they are either waiting for a table or at the table itself. It was refreshing one evening to be eating out and to see a family TALKING during dinner, interacting with each other. You could genuinely see the love there. There is a delicate balance. Technology is wonderful, but not at the expense of time spent with a family unit. We have a rule here "no phones at the table" and its enforced :)

    (happy new year if you don't post between now and then; may 2017 be a peaceful, kinder year for the both of us)

    betty

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  2. Excellent review. Sounds like one timely book. Now if folks will actually read it!

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    1. I was thinking the same thing, Melissa. How many would actually read it? I am going to gift this one ;)

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  3. Sounds interesting. Of course we didn't own technology when I was younger but I kept my face buried in a book most of the day. I wonder if that is the same!

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    1. Good point, Paula. I think book reading is a lot less mindless than scrolling through feeds, but it still does isolate sometimes, doesn't it?

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  4. Hello!, Thank you for stopping by my blog and for the congratulations. This sounds like a book I could get my son and his new little family. I love reading and will stop by to see your reviews. Perhaps I will see something I can recommend to our book club. Meanwhile enjoy the anticipation of being a grandparent in the near future.

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Hey, thanks for popping by! I appreciate your visit and your comments :) It's fun to make new friends!