Solutions for navigating an ever-changing social media world Today's students face a challenging paradox: the digital tools they need to complete their work are often the source of their biggest distractions. Students can quickly become overwhelmed trying to manage the daily confluence of online interactions with schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and family life. Written by noted author and educator Ana Homayoun,
Social Media Wellness is the first book to successfully decode the new language of social media for parents and educators and provide pragmatic solutions to help students:
- Manage distractions
- Focus and prioritize
- Improve time-management
- Become more organized and boost productivity
- Decrease stress and build empathy
With fresh insights and a solutions-oriented perspective, this crucial guide will help parents, educators and students work together to promote healthy socialization, effective self-regulation, and overall safety and wellness. Key Features:
Social Media Wellness is a critical resource for parents and educators who work with youth who spend time online - and research shows that 92% of youth are online daily, with 24% feeling as though they are constantly online. This book is the first to address many of the issues that exist in personalized learning environments, and does so by helping parents and educators understand the new language of social media in a way that is timely, relevant, and approachable.The first three chapters of
Social Media Wellness provide a foundational overview of online culture, and discuss the different ways tweens and teens are interact online - through public profiles, private messaging, ephemeral and anonymous interactions, and using livefeed video. Noted author and educator Ana Homayoun helps readers understand the give ways social media impacts today's youth, and then provides practical, effective solutions on how to help promote the opportunity for healthy socialization, effective self-regulation, and overall safety online and in real life.The second half of the book provides parents and educators implementable strategies and exercises that focus on how to talk about social media with tweens and teens, as well as how to promote academic wellness, social and emotional wellness and physical wellness in an always on digital world. Homayoun provides practical, actionable solutions to help boost student productivity, improve sleep and overall wellness, and promote stress management.
Social Media Wellness is filled with exercises that parents can do with their children, educators can do with their students, and school administrators can use to design social media and online use policies for personalized learning environments. Sample contracts are provided for faculty, parents, and high school and middle school students, and can be used to create a curriculum. The book is designed to be a guide that can be part of a faculty or school community read program, and can be a resource that is referred to time and time again.
Industry Reviews
"Ana Homayoun has written the very book I've yearned for, a must-read for teachers and parents. I have been recommending Ana's work for years, but Social Media Wellness is her best yet; a thorough, well-researched and eloquent resource for parents and teachers seeking guidance about how to help children navigate the treacherous, ever-changing waters of social media and the digital world." -- Jessica Lahey, Author of New York Times bestseller "The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed" "This is the book I've been waiting for. Ana Homayoun gives concrete strategies for parents to talk with their teens without using judgment and fear as tools. This is a guidebook you can pick up at anytime, and which your teen can read, too. I'll be recommending it to everyone I know." -- Rachel Simmons, Author of New York Times bestseller "The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence" "This is the essential guide to navigating the ephemeral and transactional communications woven into the language of social media online and IRL. I relished every page of this book. It was jam-packed with sound and seasoned self-management and executive-functioning tips and systems. The research and artfully reconstructed narratives, tools, ideas, and reflective questions feed the systematic and practical approaches the author shares to empower students, parents, and educators alike. I can't wait to add this to my professional library and share it with all of my teachers!!!" -- Lisa Johnson, Author of "Cultivating Communication and the Classroom" "I wish every parent, teacher, teen and tween knew Ana Homayoun as I do. As a journalist, she's long been my go-to source for advice on social media dilemmas affecting families because she is smart, wise and-above all-empathetic. I'm so glad to see Social Media Wellness is now available to everyone. Buy it. Like it. Share it." -- Steven Petrow, "Digital Life" Columnist "Keeping up with tweens and teens on social media often seems like a dizzying task that leaves us, the adults, lost and confused--too often giving up. Social Media Wellness brings great clarity to the matter offering actionable advice for parents and schools. In her typical style, Homayoun is realistic, pragmatic and refreshingly straight forward. She gets our attention without using scare tactics and then gives us, parents and educators, the tools to most effectively help out children find wellness in the social media age." -- Andrew Davis, Head of School "In our selfie society, teens and tweens encounter constant temptations and threats to their social, emotional, physical, and academic health. Ana Homayoun's new book provides strategies to "unselfie" our teens and develop a healthy, balanced relationship with social media." -- Michele Borba, Author of "Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in our All About Me World" "Ana Homayoun demonstrates how social media and our digital lives have reoriented relationships and how we think. In her book she offers vital tools and strategies for this revolution - whether you're a teacher, parent or student. I found myself challenged from each of these viewpoints!" -- Homa Tavangar, Global Education Adviser "Rich with stories and thoughtful interpretations of tweens' and teens' online habits, curiosities, and consequences, Ana provides parents and educators an especially powerful resource to confidently guide our students and children with tools, counsel and reassurance as they navigate social media. Bravo!" -- Stephanie Balmer, Head of School
