The Father’s Club and Screen Sanity Partnership

By Mike Davisson, Executive Director/Olathe Regional Director/Board Member for Father’s Club

In 2018, a local non-profit called Screen Sanity was launched. They believed there was a direct correlation between unchecked, unhealthy technology use and the mental health side effects that were affecting many families. Additionally, they recognize that we are the first generation of parents with digital native children, yet are also parents with no parental experience to lean into from prior generations.

With that in mind, they set out to educate and provide practical guidance to parents on how to maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing the harmful side effects.

2018 was also the year in which the Father’s Club was founded.

Father’s Club founders were confronted with the reality that DADS being intentionally involved with their KIDS was more critical than ever. The landscape with involved DADS versus without involved DADS had stark differences. We were beginning to lose a generation of KIDS being influenced by technology and outside influences instead of parents.

Five years later, Mental Health & Wellness and Suicide Prevention are two of the areas in which we focus additional efforts. Education and Resources around technology and how it is impacting our children is necessary if we are going to be the key drivers in raising our children to the best of our abilities.

The Screen Sanity Partnership

It is with these separate, yet common goals, that Screen Sanity partnered with Father’s Club and allows us to facilitate their training to help parents become better educated about technology. Screen Sanity provides Tips, Tricks and Practical Next Steps to help navigate the digital world.

These presentations help educate parents, provide resources, share basic practices, and create an environment of open dialogue among parents who attend. California Trail Middle School Principal, Mike Wiley, commented that he thought the presentation was a great connection for all the parents about how to navigate the digital world with their kids. Additionally, many parents thanked us for taking the time to present this information and felt they were more informed on how to navigate digital conversations while others were walking away with some best practices on how to intentionally do so.

This new partnership allowed Father’s Club to facilitate Screen Sanity trainings at Chisholm Traill Middle School and California Trail Middle School. We also have plans to host additional training by the end of the school year. You can check out our upcoming events to find an opportunity to attend. (You are welcome to attend any upcoming events that are and will be scheduled.)

Want to Learn More? Next steps?

To learn more about Screen Sanity, please go to www.screensanity.org.

If you are interested in having a Screen Sanity presentation brought to your school or are interested in learning more about Father’s Club, please visit www.fathersclub.org. You can JOIN Father’s Club by clicking STEP ONE and filling out the form. You can also click the CONTACT button and fill out the form to either request us to schedule Screen Sanity training at your school or discuss next steps in launching a chapter at your school if one is not already established.