ScreenStrong Families
After her oldest son, Adam, dropped out of college due to his video game addiction, Melanie Hempe, BSN, put her nursing degree and training from Emory University to good use and founded ScreenStrong. It’s her mission to create educational programs for kids and parents so no one will experience the pain of screen addiction. Her ability to simplify medical science and provide practical solutions for families has allowed her to share her passion and bold screen solutions nationally. ScreenStrong has won the hearts of many families who are preventing and reversing childhood screen conflicts and addiction. Host of the popular weekly ScreenStrong Families Podcast, Melanie has been featured in Psychology Today, Thrive-Global, The Wall Street Journal, A&E Network, CBS, CNN, NPR, the documentary Screened Out, and various news and television outlets. Her ScreenStrong Kids’ Brains and Screens Courses are available for parents and students. Her four books include, “Kids’ Brains & Screens: A ScreenStrong Student Course,” “Will Your Gamer Survive College?” “Can Your Teen Survive—and Thrive—Without a Smartphone?” and “The ScreenStrong Solution: How to Free Your Child from Addictive Screen Habits.”
Episodes
In today’s episode, Mandee sits down with Gayle Cheatham, founder of Thrive Offline, to explore a growing reality many families are feeling—but don’t always know how to address: our kids are more connected than ever, yet feeling increasingly disconnected.
Gayle shares her personal journey from the corporate world to leading a movement focused on helping families rediscover real-life connection. Together, they unpack how screens are ...
What if your child’s struggle with screens isn’t a lack of discipline—but the result of how these platforms are built?
In this episode, we unpack two major jury verdicts against Google, including YouTube, and what they reveal about the addictive design of digital platforms.
You’ll learn why kids can’t “just use it in moderation,” what’s happening in the developing brain, and how you can step in with the guardrails your child needs to...
We’re either creating or consuming—and that choice shapes who our kids become.
In this powerful episode of The ScreenStrong Families Podcast, host Mandee Hamann sits down with Bradley T. Morris—father, storyteller, and Founder & CEO of Majik Kids—to explore what’s quietly being lost in today’s screen-saturated childhood… and how we can take it back.
In a world designed to keep kids scrolling, watching, and comparing, many childre...
Host Mandee Hamann welcomes ScreenStrong Ambassador Kathleen Barlow for a heartfelt and eye-opening conversation about preserving childhood in today’s hyper-digital culture.
Kathleen is a mother of six, grandmother of three, former French teacher, and a passionate advocate for phone-free schools. After leaving full-time education in 2024, she committed herself to raising awareness about the impact of digital overuse, especially insi...
Are classroom screens really helping children learn—or quietly working against how their brains develop?
In this episode, neuroscientist Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath joins us to discuss his new book The Digital Delusion and what the science actually says about technology in the classroom.
For years, schools have been told that more technology means better learning. But many of the ideas that built the EdTech movement—like “multimedia enh...
What happens when schools trade screens for books, discussion, and teacher-led classrooms?
In this powerful episode of The ScreenStrong Families Podcast, host Mandee Hamann welcomes Dr. Kathleen O’Toole, Associate Vice President for K–12 Education at Hillsdale College, to explore why screen-free learning is essential for children’s mental health, intellectual growth, and civic formation.
Dr. O’Toole leads Hillsdale’s nationwide K–12 ...
Join us in this episode as we dive into the world of Roblox, sleepovers, and Snapchat with invaluable insights from our friend Officer Gomez, a School Resource Officer (SRO) and sworn Deputy of the Boise County Sheriff’s Department.
Discover what parents need to know to keep their children safe and informed in today's digital age. From the challenges of online gaming to the issues of sleepovers and the nuances of Sna...
In today’s episode, host Mandee Hamann sits down with Dr. Steven Klein (Caron Treatment Center), a physician-scientist specializing in addiction medicine and brain health, for a vital conversation every parent needs to hear.
In a world of constant digital stimulation, many kids’ brains are under relentless pressure—often without parents realizing what’s really happening beneath the surface. Dr. Klein explains how chronic overstimula...
Thank you all for listening and engaging with the podcast this past year. Here are just a few highlights from our 2025 episodes. Happy New Year!
Episodes Featured (in order of appearance):
Building Executive Function: Why Play Matters More Than Tech with Mariana Carazo (#239)
Protecting Kids in the Digital Classroom: An Honest Look Into "Ed-Tech" with Andrew Liddell (#225)
In today’s episode, Melanie shares five simple but powerful strategies to help your family enjoy a peaceful, connected, ScreenStrong Christmas. If you’ve ever watched the holidays get hijacked by devices, meltdowns, or gaming marathons at grandma’s house, this episode will give you the confidence and clarity you need to lead your family well this season.
You’ll learn:
- Why giving presence (not screens) creates a more meaningful Ch...
For this special holiday encore episode, Melanie is joined by her son Evan to discuss practical holiday gift ideas—and encourage people to skip smartphones and video games as gifts this season. Evan gives his perspective on the highs and lows of wanting a smartphone in middle & high school and shares some of his favorite childhood gifts.
Grab your copy of our Non-Tech Gift Guide discussed in this episode!
In this holiday episode, Melanie Hempe and Dr. Stacey unpack the #1 screen mistake parents make at Christmas: giving in and gifting devices. They reveal the hidden blind spots that cause even the best parents to rationalize smartphones and gaming systems as “good gifts,” especially during the emotional pressure of the holidays.
Together, they explain why teaching teens to “use social media wisely” isn’t the solution, why willpower c...
In this special Thanksgiving episode, Evan Hempe steps behind the microphone to share a powerful personal perspective you won’t want to miss. As a young adult looking back on a ScreenStrong childhood, Evan reflects on the unexpected (and sometimes overlooked) gifts that came from growing up without toxic screens.
While the culture insists that kids “need” smartphones, video games, and social media to survive socially or academically...
What is the best phone for kids?
It’s the question parents everywhere are asking—and today, we’re finally going to answer it.
In this episode, Melanie is joined by special guest and fellow mom, Hayley, who recently went on the journey of deciding what kind of phone her son should have. When Hayley casually mentioned that she uses a flip phone, Melanie knew she needed to get her on the show to unpack the whole story—and the bigg...
In this special episode, we share audio from a virtual panel discussion hosted by Thrive Forward Therapy, “Protecting Youth in the Digital Age.”
How can parents keep their kids safe online? It’s one of the most urgent questions families face today. With nearly 70% of parents saying parenting is harder now than it was 20 years ago—largely due to technology and social media—this conversation couldn’t be more timely.
Join Melanie Hempe,...
In today’s episode, ScreenStrong Ambassador Liaison and host Mandee Hamann welcomes Katie Kimball, founder of Kids Cook Real Food
and two-time TEDx speaker, for an inspiring conversation about helping kids build real life skills in a world obsessed with screens.
As a mom of four, teacher, and creator of the #LifeSkillsNow summer camps, Katie has helped thousands of families empower their kids to cook, clean, and take responsibi...
This week, Melanie sits down with psychiatrist Dr. Adriana Stacey to discuss new research showing how social media use in adolescence may be changing the way our kids think.
Most parents know that excessive screen time can impact mood and sleep, but Dr. Stacey explains how it goes much deeper — affecting attention, memory, and even language development. Together, they explore what’s happening inside the adolescent brain, why even “m...
In this powerful and eye-opening episode, host Melanie Hempe sits down with Amy Eytchison, a mother of four grown children, to have an honest conversation about one of the most overlooked issues in parenting today: video game addiction among boys.
While the nation is finally waking up to the dangers of smartphones and social media for our daughters, many parents are missing the other half of the digital crisis—our sons, who are quie...
In this episode, Mandee Hamann sits down with Sarah Rebick to explore the unique qualities of the Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki and how they align with ScreenStrong’s mission of raising healthy, well-balanced kids in a screen-heavy world. Together, they discuss how the program’s focus on community, connection with nature, and hands-on learning provides an inspiring model for families seeking alternatives to the digital default. ...
In today’s episode, Melanie sits down with Beth, a high school teacher, to hear her firsthand experience with the new phone-free classroom policy this school year.
Beth shares the contrast between last year’s inconsistent approach—where teachers set their own phone rules, leading to confusion and frustration—and this year’s unified, zero-tolerance policy: no phones, headphones, smartwatches, or personal devices from bell to bell.
The...
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