Pixel Parenting

From Our Kids to Our Parents: Cybersecurity for the Sandwich Generation | Chad Rychlewski & Kae David

The scams we worry about for our kids are now aimed at our parents. In this episode I sit down again with Chad Rychlewski and Kae David, the cybersecurity experts behind Cybersecurity Parents, to talk about their new book, Cyber-Smart Caregiving: Protecting Your Parents in the Digital Age. It's written for the sandwich generation: those of us raising kids while also looking out for parents who are getting older in a world that keeps getting more digital. We get into why scammers go after older a

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Every Game Teaches Your Child Something | Dr. Erik Harpstead

Your child wants a new game, and the app store says it's educational. That label is checked for age, not for learning. In this episode I sit down with Dr. Erik Harpstead, Associate Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute, who studies the data behind kids' games to see whether anyone is learning anything, to replace the label with a check you can run in minutes. Dr. Harpstead teaches game designers how to build games that teach, and he is part of the team behi

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Green Flags and Red Flags in Kids' Apps and Shows | Charlotte Anne Wright

Everything in the app store says "educational". A lot of it says "expert backed" and "research backed" too. None of those words are regulated, and none of them tell you whether the app in your hand does anything for your three-year-old. In this episode I sit down with Charlotte Anne Wright, a learning designer and researcher at Begin and former president of the Bay Area chapter of the Children's Media Association, to swap the label for a framework you can use. Charlotte taught young children for

How to Talk to Your Kids About Roblox (and Everything Else Online)| Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov

Your child asks to play Roblox, or some app that didn't exist when you were their age, and the first instinct is to Google the parental controls. In this episode I sit down with Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov, founder of DigitalParentingCoach.com and Roblox's first head of parental advocacy, to talk about why that instinct is only half the answer. Her reframe: parental controls are the training wheels, and it's the conversation that teaches your family how to steer. Dr. Milovidov explains what Roblox a

Why Kids Bond With an AI Companion, and How to Approach It | Dr. Mathilde Cerioli

Have you ever wondered what happens when a child starts talking to an AI like it's a friend? In this episode I sit down with Dr. Mathilde Cerioli, a cognitive neuroscientist and Chief Scientific Officer at the nonprofit everyone.ai, to unpack what AI companions actually are, what they do to a child's developing brain, and why preteens and teens are especially drawn to them. Mathilde explains why an AI can feel so social and so sticky, why the friction of real friendship is a feature of developme

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How Kids Actually Learn (and the AI Question) | Missy Widmann

What actually happens in your child's brain when they hand an assignment to AI — and is it really as harmless as it seems?Patricia Cangas sits down with Missy Widmann — doctor of education, co-founder of Neural Education, and visiting assistant professor at Pacific Lutheran University. A former health and fitness teacher of 26 years, Missy found that movement isn't just good for the body; it fundamentally shapes how the brain learns. The conversation unpacks what attention really is, why product

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How to Reduce the Mental Load of Parenting: Email, Attention, and AI | Amy Briggs

How many hours a week are you mentally running through the family calendar, and what could you do with that time instead?Patricia Cangas sits down with Amy Briggs, founder and CEO of Aviva and a licensed speech-language pathologist, to dig into something every parent feels but rarely names: the invisible weight of managing family life through an inbox. Amy's clinical work with thousands of families led her to a sharp observation — parents today are more involved than any previous generation, yet

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Is Your Child's AI Companion Safe? A Startup CEO Explains | Vivian Chong

Do you know how to tell if an AI tool has proper safeguards for kids?I welcome Vivian Chong, co-founder and CEO of apgard.ai, a youth AI safety startup working to make AI tools safer for children. Vivian and her team build evaluation and monitoring systems that detect harmful content in AI companions and educational technology before it reaches kids. Their work started with a UNICEF-affiliated grant focused on child exploitation prevention and has expanded to address mental health risks in AI pr

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Can Robots or AI Be Real Friends? Kids Ages 7–10 Weigh In

What would a machine be able to really be a friend? This episode is a kids' philosophy conversation with Dr. Iris Oved (Paradox Lab) about friendship, robots, and anthropomorphism, the way our brains read emotion and intention into things that don't have them. Kids ages 7-10 meet Siri, Pebble AI, and a robot dog. Then they think out loud about what makes a friend real. I host a unique episode of Pixel Parenting where kids ages 7-10 tackle a philosophical question: Can robots be real friends? Dr.

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Cybersecurity for Parents: Start With One Conversation | Chad Rychlewski & Kae David

When was the last time you explained to grandparents why broadcasting your kids' photos to their friends is risky?Patricia Cangas talks with cybersecurity professionals Kae David and Chad Rychlewski, co-authors of Cyber Smart Parenting. Kae works with tech enterprises and has over 10 years in cybersecurity, while Chad has spent 16 years protecting public sector institutions including K-20 schools where his own children attend. They break down complex security concepts into everyday language pare

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Is It Fair? Navigating Screen Rules with Multiple Kids | Kaitlin Tiches

Which parental mediation strategy does research say works best—and why?Patricia Cangas sits down with Kaitlin Tiches, a research librarian at Boston Children's Hospital and the Digital Wellness Lab, who translates the latest media research into practical guidance for families. Kaitlin unpacks parental mediation strategies—from active conversations to co-viewing and boundary-setting—and tackles real challenges like sibling fairness and bedroom device rules. "Our number one suggested rule is scree

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It’s Not You vs. Your Teen — It’s All of Us vs. Addictive Tech | Dino Ambrosi

Could reframing one conversation turn your teen from defensive to collaborative about screen time?Host Patricia Cangas talks with Dino Ambrosi, founder of Project Reboot, who turned his college struggle with phone addiction into a program now reaching over 50,000 students. Dino walks through surprising data showing 70% of teens at top schools self-identify as addicted to their phones, why banning devices without student buy-in often backfires, and practical strategies parents can start tonight.

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What Video Games Teach: How Kids Learn Through Play | Dr. Kelli Dunlap

What do Minecraft, D&D, and Fortnite actually teach your child's developing brain?Dr. Kelli Dunlap, a licensed clinical psychologist with a master's in game design and executive director of Take This, joins us to explore video games as tools for learning and development. Dr. Dunlap explains why humans play, what games teach children at different ages, and how parents can distinguish healthy gaming from problematic patterns. She walks through practical strategies for managing screen time transiti

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Violent Video Games: The Science Behind the Headlines | Dr. Rachel Kowert

"Parents can be worried about all the other million things that we're worried about for our kids. But violent video games in and of themselves should not be at the top of that list."  - Dr. Rachel Kowert  Host Patricia Cangas sits down with Dr. Rachel Kowert, a psychologist and game researcher whose work has appeared in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Dr. Kowert founded the Psychgeist YouTube channel and podcast to make game science accessible to the public. She tackles the persisten

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Speech, Screens & Kids: What Parents Should Know | Denise Ford

Episode Summary Pediatric speech-language pathologist Denise Santos Ford, M.S., CCC-SLP joins Pixel Parenting to demystify what SLPs actually do (far beyond “fixing R’s”), how screen time intersects with social-emotional and language development, and practical, evidence-aligned ways parents can use tech—together with their kids—to spark more words. We also talk AAC devices, video-modeling, telehealth vs. in-person therapy, ultrasound biofeedback for tricky sounds, and emerging AI tools that may

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Screens, Brains and 5 Healthy Screen Habits | Julianna Lorenzen

In this episode of Pixel Parenting, I talk with Julianna Lorenzen, co-founder of Healthy Screen Habits, about how screens shape kids’ brains, and what we can do about it. Julianna has a background in sports medicine and is also a mom of four. She shares how her medical expertise and parenting journey led her to co-found a nonprofit that helps families navigate tech use with science, compassion, and practical tools. We cover the brain science behind screen habits, what makes apps so addictive, an

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Building Mental Health Skills Through Play | Dr. Celeste Sangiorgio

In this conversation, Dr. Celeste Sangiorgio discusses the intersection of video games and mental health, exploring how gaming can be utilized as a therapeutic tool. She shares insights on designing games that address mental health challenges, the importance of narrative in engaging players, and how games can influence identity development and empathy. The discussion also touches on parenting styles as represented in games, the potential for games to foster conversations between parents and chil

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Behind the Screen: Growing Up with Games | Allie Williams

In this conversation, Allie shares her journey through the world of gaming, discussing her educational background in game design and neuroscience, the impact of video games on her life, and how they have helped her manage ADHD. She emphasizes the importance of parental guidance in navigating online gaming safety and the role of trust in the parent-child relationship. Allie also highlights the potential of educational games and the future of gaming for families, encouraging young creators to expl

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13 Ways Video Games May Affect Mental Health | Dr. Nick Ballou

In Part 2 of our special series with Dr. Nick Ballou, postdoctoral researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, we dive into what research actually says about the effects of video games on mental health. Drawing from his newly published review paper, Dr. Ballou walks us through 13 potential ways gaming can influence well-being—from emotional regulation and social connection to displacement. We also dig into common myths (no, violent games don’t turn kids violent), talk about when parents should

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What Parents Should Know About Video Game Research | Dr. Nick Ballou

In this first part of a two-part series, I sit down with Dr. Nick Ballou, a postdoctoral researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, to pull back the curtain on how video game research is actually done. You’ve seen the headlines—video games are either harming or helping our kids—but what’s the truth behind those claims? Dr. Ballou explains the difference between self-reported survey data and behavioral data, what it takes to collaborate with the gaming industry, and why understanding the how be

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