Whitby School Presents: An Evening with Dr. Delaney Ruston

Director of the Film, Screenagers
Wednesday, April 18, 6pm at Greenwich Library

Meet Dr. Delaney Ruston, Director of Screenagers

This special event will begin with a screening of Screenagers at 6pm in Greenwich Library's Cole Auditorium, followed by a moderated conversation with the film's Director, Dr. Delaney Ruston.

Event sponsored by: Greenwich Magazine

About the Filmmaker, Dr. Delaney Ruston

As a director, Dr. Delaney Ruston turned the camera on her own family and others—revealing stories of messy struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction.  We meet Hannah, a 14-year old victim of social media bullying who struggled trying to hide her social media use from her mom. And Andrew, whose love of video games turned into an addiction taking him from earning straight A’s to flunking out of college.

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Interwoven into these stories, are cutting edge science and insights from thought leaders Peggy Orenstein, Sherry Turkle, Simon Sinek, as well as leading brain scientists who present evidence on the real changes in the brain when kids are on screens. SCREENAGERS goes far beyond exposing the risks of screen time, it reveals multiple approaches on how parents and educators can work with kids to help them achieve a healthy amount of screen time.

About Screenagers

Are you watching kids scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and a six-second attention span? Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston saw that with her own kids and learned that the average kid spends 6.5 hours a day looking at screens. She wondered about the impact of all this time and about the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time—friction she knew all too well. 

Physician and filmmaker, Delaney Ruston decided to make SCREENAGERS when she found herself constantly struggling with her two kids about screen time. Ruston felt guilty and confused, not sure what limits were best, especially around mobile phones, social media, gaming, and how to monitor online homework. Hearing repeatedly how other parents were equally overwhelmed, she realized this is one of the biggest, unexplored parenting issues of our time.  

In SCREENAGERS, as with her award-winning documentaries on mental health, Delaney takes a deeply personal approach as she probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including her own, to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance.

SCREENAGERS is blazing a new model of distribution. Our community viewing model brings parents and educators together to start a conversation nationwide about how screen time impacts their lives and what they can do about it.  As part of the community viewing model, parents, educators, PTAs, religious organizations, medical practices and workplace groups can book their own screenings at www.screenagersmovie.com.  Parents are encouraged to bring their kids to the movie.

Want to learn more ahead of the event? Be sure to check out Delaney's blog, Tech Talk Tuesdays.

This event is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Greenwich Library.

Exclusive Media Sponsor:

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