➡ CLICK HERE to send me a text, I'd love to hear what you thought about this episode! Leave your name in the text so I know who it's from!

A few weeks ago, Thekla Brumder Ross and I hosted a live panel with last week's guest, Kat Zilka, Founder and Executive Director of Dis/Connect, and two of the high schoolers who are a part of the Dis/Connect movement.

It was eye-opening, to say the very least!

Today on the podcast, Thekla and I breakdown our three most inspirational takeaways from this conversation. You need not have been present to understand the profundity of what the students had to teach us.

Plus, we catch up on what has been happening since our deep dive on attention last May and some exciting news in Thekla's world. (cough, cough, BOOK DEAL, cough, cough, COMING SOON!) Hear more about what this is about and when you can expect to see it on shelves near you!

And if you are inspired to reach out to Thekla to connect or share a personal story with her that *could* be included in her book, you can find her on LinkedIn.

Also - I would love love LOVE to hear tiny steps YOU'VE been taking (if you have) to notice your own screen time use, or to check yourself, or to keep yourself accountable. I hope to have a short and sweet episode sharing fun ideas we can ALL try to be more present and connected with ourselves! Would you leave me a voice memo HERE? (or just reply to this email if that feels more comfortable!)

Support the show

I'd love to hear what you think. Drop me a text (linked above) or an email: meagan@meaganschultz.com

Or NEW (!) even more fun, drop me a voice memo HERE!

Cream City Dreams is now Gather Connect Create!

New name, same host 👋🏼 Bite-sized episodes with big connection!

Join me weekly for inspiration, interviews and simple ideas you can use in your own community to create more connections IN REAL LIFE, no matter where you find yourself!

➡ CLICK HERE to send me a text, I'd love to hear what you thought about this episode! Leave your name in the text so I know who it's from!

Today's guest is the founder and Executive Director of Dis/Connect, a local non-profit attempting to create screen-free spaces for teens and young adults in our community. But let this conversation inspire you, wherever you live, to look for those spaces in your neighborhood.

If you’re in the mood for a how-I-found-my-calling-and-dropped-everything-to-follow-it story, this week’s episode is for you.

And it's incredibly powerful.

Kat was a high school English teacher during the pandemic and saw first-hand the havoc that that screens and social media (and doomscrolling, comparisons, FOMO and dangerous algorithms) had on her students. She had a front row seat to the mental health crisis of this generation of teens.

So what did she do?

She got the teens to talk about it. She asked them questions. She listened.

"We need help," they begged.

She heard that call, left her job at her high school and set out to create the spaces these teens needed to have the difficult conversations and find the support and off-screen accountability with their peers.

Whether you’re a parent or not, this is a vital conversation we all need to be having. I hope you’ll listen and join in.

I also invited my friend (and friend-of-the-pod), psychologist and addiction-medicine specialist, Thekla Brumder Ross. Longtime listeners will remember my series with Thekla last spring all about attention, mindfulness and how we can change our relationships with our screens. If you haven't listened to that, it's worth going back to listen! Thekla really is an expert here! (start HERE!)

Support the show

I'd love to hear what you think. Drop me a text (linked above) or an email: meagan@meaganschultz.com

Or NEW (!) even more fun, drop me a voice memo HERE!

Cream City Dreams is now Gather Connect Create!

New name, same host 👋🏼 Bite-sized episodes with big connection!

Join me weekly for inspiration, interviews and simple ideas you can use in your own community to create more connections IN REAL LIFE, no matter where you find yourself!

➡ CLICK HERE to send me a text, I'd love to hear what you thought about this episode! Leave your name in the text so I know who it's from!

In today's episode, Christina Dinur and Amanda Metropolus from RECONNECT MILWAUKEE talk about how and why they founded this group and what they hope to offer kids instead of endless (and mindless) screen time.

A screen free childhood movement is growing (see links below) and it's powered by local folks who are trying to offer other ways for kids to connect, play, and experience the world IRL instead of behind a screen.

There are so many ways to tap into the movement, but here are a few links, and we talk about more in this episode. And it's so much more helpful to navigate this journey with screens (and kids) together.

Links from the show:

RECONNECT MILWAUKEE

Wait until 8th Pledge

Smartphone Free Childhood US

Off February (global)

Off February (Milwaukee)

Support the show

I'd love to hear what you think. Drop me a text (linked above) or an email: meagan@meaganschultz.com

Or NEW (!) even more fun, drop me a voice memo HERE!

Cream City Dreams is now Gather Connect Create!

New name, same host 👋🏼 Bite-sized episodes with big connection!

Join me weekly for inspiration, interviews and simple ideas you can use in your own community to create more connections IN REAL LIFE, no matter where you find yourself!