One of the greatest challenges facing parents today is how to rear their children in this new digital world. The average American child, age eight to eighteen, spends more than seven hours a day looking at television, a computer, a video game, and cell phone. By the age of seven, a typical child will have spent one full year of twenty-four hour days watching a screen.

Arlene Pellicane and Gary Chapman have written a new book, Growing Up Social: Raising Relational Kids in a Screen-Driven World. Arlene was on my program last week talking about some of the challenges parents face in a digital world. Certainly there are benefits to this digital world: quick decision-making, improved hand-eye-coordination, and multitasking. But there are significant problems.

Put simply, young people spend entirely too much time in front of a screen. They are losing many of the important relational skills in this screen-driven world. They aren’t getting enough exercise. They often have become more aggressive. They aren’t reading as much. The list goes on and on. The book reminds us that there is a price to pay when we give our children and grandchildren all these digital devices at a young age.

Fortunately, Arlene Pellicane provides lots of positive suggestions and alternatives. She calls them the A+ skills for relational kids. These include the skills of affection, appreciation, anger management, apology, and attention. If we are to rear emotionally healthy children, we will have to intervene and set guidelines in this digital world.

One of the most troubling chapters focuses on “Screen Time and the Brain.” Brain studies help us understand why children (and adults) become addicted to digital technology. If fact, Internet Addiction Disorder is on the rise in most countries. We also know that a child’s brain is plastic and easily molded by these digital devices.

The book is full of stories, illustrations, and statistics. It even has a quiz so you can assess if your child is taking in too much screen time. This is a book that parents and grandparents need if they are to guide children through this digital world.