32. Emily Jones and Family Tech University

In today’s episode, we get to spend time with Emily Jones from Utah. Emily is a mother of five and cofounder with her husband of Family Tech University. When their oldest son was about 11 years old, he started asking about getting a phone and Emily wanted to approach technology as effectively and responsibly as she could. She describes how miserable it was to research this topic online because most of what she read was driven by fear and distrust. So Emily and her husband decided to create their own plan and course for introducing technology to their children. They wanted to help their kids cultivate what Emily referred to as an "internal filter", so they could embrace the good and shed the bad through their own decision-making. This shift in thinking requires parents to move away from pressure to a child's own sense of drive and agency. After Emily and her husband created the course, family and friends also wanted the resource, and the Jones' decided to make their course and materials available to everyone. I personally like Emily's comparison of gradually granting technology to children to driver's ed. The idea is that children have to demonstrate their responsibility and skill, just like with driving, before they start using smartphones and technology. Emily provides several resources and excellent advice about how to navigate this ubiquitous topic of technology.Connect with Emilyhttps://familytechuniversity.com/https://seek.deseretbook.com/p/parenting-in-a-digital-world-with-confidence-and-peaceBooksThe Self-Driven ChildGlow KidsDigital for GoodResources and SitesYoto PlayerFree Download https://familytechuniversity.com/: “How to Grant Your Child a Phone (without regrets)”Gryphon RouterBark Technologies at https://www.bark.us/https://gabb.com/https://families.google/familylink/Proactive Homeschool Dad (PHD) CoursePHD CourseThis Golden Hour