Technology Resources for Parents

**Ever wonder what young people really think about technology?**

We sat down with students from the Summit summer conference to hear their honest, unfiltered thoughts about technology, phones, and the role screens play in their lives.

Tech Reset Podcast Episodes

We’ve created a Technology series on the Upside-Down Parenting Podcast featuring six episodes focused on helping your family develop a healthy relationship with technology. In these conversations, we talk with Arlene Pellicane, author of The Great Tech Reset, as well as guests like her daughter, Noelle, about what it was like to grow up with technology boundaries.

This series isn’t about fear, guilt, or eliminating every screen. It’s about helping your family develop a healthier, more intentional relationship with technology so your kids can flourish in the real world.

Additional Resources

These bonus family resources help you put the principles of The Great Tech Reset into practice at home. With conversation guides, a phone-readiness assessment, a parent-to-child letter, a customizable screen contract, screen-free activity ideas, and a plan for creating screen-free family dinners, you’ll have practical tools to set healthy boundaries and communicate the “why” behind them. Each resource is designed to help your family use technology with greater wisdom and purpose while making more room for God, meaningful relationships, creativity, conversation, and the real-life experiences that help children flourish.

Hit the Reset Button on Technology

Are you tired of the constant conflict, negotiation, and emotional meltdowns technology can cause for your family?

A technology fast may be the opportunity your family needs to hit the reset button, connect more deeply, and begin overcoming the foothold technology has gained.

Technology fasts can come in all shapes and sizes. Your family might fast for a day, a weekend, a month, or longer. You might give up nearly all technology or focus on one thing, such as social media, phones, movies and shows, video games, or the internet.

You know your family best. The resources below will walk you through the process of choosing a fast, preparing your family, making a plan, and putting it into action.

The Great Tech Talk

Introducing new technology boundaries in your family can feel daunting. This resource gives you a practical game plan for starting the conversation, setting healthy expectations, and navigating the pushback that may come along the way.

Screen-Free Dinner

Looking for a simple way to begin resetting your family’s relationship with technology? Start around the dinner table. This resource will help you plan a technology-free meal where everyone can put away their screens, share a good meal, and reconnect with one another.

Screen-Free Activities

When you’re helping your family build healthier technology habits, it’s important to replace screen time with meaningful alternatives. These screen-free activities give your kids practical ways to have fun, learn new skills, and connect with you and others without a device in their hand.

"Am I Ready for a Phone?" Evaluation

Are your teens asking for a phone? Do they think they’re ready for one? This teen self-evaluation can help your teen (and you) consider whether they’re ready for the responsibility that comes with owning a phone.

A Letter to My Child

When you decide it’s time for your teen to have a phone, customize this letter to explain the expectations and responsibilities that come with it. It will help your child understand that setting technology boundaries isn’t about punishment. It’s you loving them enough to guide and care for them.

My Screen Contract and Pledge

When you give your teen a phone, take time to walk through this agreement together. It provides clear expectations for phone use and establishes what will happen when those expectations aren’t met. Most importantly, it gives you and your teen an opportunity to take on this new responsibility with clarity and trust.