Table of Contents

PROLOGUE
1. Landscape: What Today’s Social Media World Looks Like for Tweens and Teens
The New Language of Technology and Social Media
So Much Has Changed, Yet So Much Remains the Same
How Social Media and Technology Affect the Overall Educational Experience
Summary
2. Background: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going, and Why It Matters
How We Got Here
The New Social Media
Why All of This Is a Big Deal in Terms of Tweens, Teens, and the School Experience
Summary
3. Side Effects: Five Ways Social Media Affects Today’s Tweens and Teens
Altered Expectations
Mixed Messages
Information Overload
On-All-the-Time Mentality
“All About the Likes” Personal Values Development
Summary
4. Conversations: How to Talk About Social Media
Understand the Language and the Lingo
Use the Framework of Socialization, Self-Regulation, and Safety
Recognize the Importance of Attitude and Approach
Make It All About Them
Help Them Identify Their Values
Encourage Them to “Get Real” About Daily Choices and Habits
Work Collaboratively to Come Up with Acceptable Use Policies
A Word About Technology Addiction
Summary
5. Academic Wellness: Organization, Compartmentalization, and Energy Management in the Age of Distractions
The New Language of Technology in Schools
How Social Media and Technology Affect Academic Wellness
Optimizing Organization with Virtual Folders and In-Real-Life (IRL) Binders
Mapping Out Assignments and Activities
Managing Time and Energy
Stress: The Art of Monotasking and Encouraging Personal Productivity
Finding Flexibility for Different Learning Styles
The Cheating Dilemma
Summary
6. Social and Emotional Wellness: Encouraging Students to Be Healthy Online and In Real Life
The New Language of Social Media Socialization
How Social Media Affects Friendships, Relationships, and Personality Development
Helping Students Figure Out Their “Why”
Encouraging Students to Define Qualities of Healthy Relationships
Recognizing Negative Compensatory Behaviors
Understanding Connection Versus Isolation
Closing the Empathy Gap and Cultivating Compassion
Promoting Appropriate Social and Emotional Boundaries
Developing a Plan for Guidance and Support
Acknowledging and Validating the Bystander Experience
Summary
7. Physical Wellness: Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World
The Teetering Imbalance
Promoting Sleep
Encouraging Stress Management
Focusing on Functional Exercise
Understanding Addiction
Knowing the Signs and Getting Help
Protection from Physical Harm and Danger
Summary
8. Moving Forward: Implementing the Strategies at School and at Home
Things to Think About at School
Reflecting as a School
Things to Think About at Home
Reflecting on the Home Front
Recommended Reading List
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
Index

About the Author

Ana Homayoun is a noted teen and millennial expert, author, speaker, and educator. Her work focuses on promoting organization, time-management, personal purpose, and overall wellness for young people. Her first book, That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week: Helping Disorganized and Distracted Boys Succeed in School and Life, quickly became a classic among parents and educators for the pragmatic approach to executive functioning issues. Her next book, The Myth of the Perfect Girl: Helping Our Daughters Find Authentic Success and Happiness in School and Life, explores the real-life dilemmas of young women today and provides strategies for finding authentic success and happiness. Her latest book, Social Media Wellness: Helping Teens and Tweens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World, decodes the new language of social media socialization, and provides practical strategies to encourage better choices online and in-real-life.

In addition to her individualized consulting services, Ms. Homayoun travels around the world working with schools, and frequently provides parent education, student presentations, and professional development presentations. Her work has been quoted or featured in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, San Jose Mercury News, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and ABC News, among others, and is a frequent guest on NPR.

She is the founder of Green Ivy Educational Consulting, a Silicon Valley-based educational consulting firm. For more information, please visit www.anahomayoun.com and www.greenivyed.com.

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*