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Successful Parent Hi, I'm Dr. Carrie Mackensen
🧠 Helping parents raise resilient kids in a digital world.
🌟 Psychologist + Mom

31/05/2026

Are middle schoolers addicted to their devices? đŸ“±

We asked the students themselves, and the answers might surprise you:

- The Consensus: Overwhelmingly, middle schoolers agree that people their age can become addicted to digital devices.

- The “”Illusion”” of Control: In 6th and 7th grade, most students think they have a “”pretty good handle”” on their usage—even while they see addiction happening to their friends.

- The 8th Grade Shift: By 8th grade, the illusion disappears. Students straight up admit these devices are addicting and that people want to be on them all the time.

- As students get older, they become more aware of the pull of technology.

How are you helping your students or kids navigate this?

29/05/2026

Interactive screens are crumbs. Real life is the full meal.

When kids turn to a screen for stimulation, connection, or comfort, it’s like reaching for crumbs when they’re starving. Screens give them just enough to keep reaching, but never enough to actually fill them up.

What does fill them up?

A conversation with someone who loves them. Playing guitar until they get the chord right. Practicing cartwheels in the backyard. Reading a book they can’t put down. Building something with their hands. Belly-laughing with a friend in person, not over text.

These are the full meals. They build real skills, real confidence, real relationships, and a real sense of self. That is what nourishes a kid’s soul. And that’s what we’re protecting when we reduce screen time at home.

A screen cannot fulfill your child. Real life can. You can.

Honored to share this conversation with KTLA’s Off the Clock.

26/05/2026

There’s a part of your kid’s brain that gets stronger every time they pick up a phone. And it isn’t the part you want strengthened.

When I sat down with a room of middle schoolers, here’s what I told them.

When a kid is gaming or scrolling, the part that lights up most isn’t the thinking part. It’s the emotional brain, where the reward center and addiction pathways live. And here’s the catch: whatever part of the brain gets used most is the part that grows strongest.

Screens aren’t just addictive in the moment. They’re wiring the brain for addiction.
What that looks like at home:

đŸš© Bigger emotional outbursts (the emotional brain overrides the thinking brain)
đŸš© Addiction pathways reinforced during the most pivotal years of brain development
đŸš© Higher risk of addiction later in life, to substances, gambling, or more screens

There’s also dopamine downregulation. The more the brain gets flooded by screens, the less it responds to ordinary life. Bike rides, legos, board games, conversations...real-life activities start to feel flat. That’s why your kid says they’re bored when screens aren’t available.

None of this is your kid’s fault. And it isn’t yours either. These devices were built by behavioral scientists to do exactly this.

The good news? Knowing is the first step.
Sources in the first comment.

22/05/2026

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s that I don’t trust what’s out there.”

That’s how I talk to my kid about screens in the bedroom, because the answer is ‘no.’ No phones, no iPads, no laptops behind closed doors. Everything charges outside the bedroom overnight.

Your kid’s brain isn’t fully wired yet. The brakes aren’t fully built. Until they are, you are their brakes. That’s not strict parenting. That’s developmental neuroscience.
The simple fact that a parent could walk by at any moment is enough to keep most kids out of the dark corners of the internet. That alone keeps them safer.

Tell them, “I love you too much to let you be harmed. And I know what’s out there.”

From a recent conversation with

21/05/2026

Nobody handed a toddler a cigarette and called it educational.

But for the past 15 years, we’ve handed them iPads at 18 months and called it development. We’ve handed kids smartphones in elementary school and called it normal.

Here’s the truth: parents weren’t being careless. We were all lied to. Tech companies knew these devices were engineered to be addictive and could harm developing brains, and they told the opposite story in public. Parents did the best we could with the information we were given. We were all duped.

The research is now clear. Excessive interactive screen use affects impulse control, attention, and emotional regulation in measurable ways. Brain imaging shows it.

You’re not to blame and you’re not behind. Now you’re informed. And being informed is where it starts to turn around to the better.

Citations in the first comment.

17/05/2026

What if 3 months from now you looked back at this week as the moment everything changed for your family?

No more screen time demands or battles. Your kid walking in after school and actually telling you about their day, not asking or getting on their screen of choice. Instead: Real laughter. Real connection. You parenting with calm confidence instead of stress or dread.

That future is not a fantasy. I’ve watched this transformation happen with family after family.

The Digital Boundaries Boot Camp for Moms is a small, live, five-session experience where I walk alongside you as you implement the boundaries that bring your kid back...plus two optional follow-up sessions for added support to make the changes stick.

Real coaching. Real community. Real change.

Limited to 50 moms. Enrollment closes May 18 đŸ‘‰đŸ» Link in bio.

14/05/2026

You don’t need more information about screens. You need a real person walking alongside you while you make the changes stick.

That is what this is.

I will walk you through the five essential digital boundaries every family needs:

1. Delay and Discern
2. Presence over Pixels
3. Real Life First
4. Location Limits
5. Time Limits

One per session, we get specific. The science behind why each boundary matters, the exact words to say when your kid pushes back, and real-time support for your specific kid and your specific home. Plus two optional follow-up Q&A sessions.

Here is the part that makes the change actually work. You check in with me and the community every week. You talk through what is happening in your home. You get a supportive group of moms doing the same work alongside you. You stop doing this alone.

Plus you’ll get a bonus expert interview with Melanie Hempe of ScreenStrong on everything moms need to know about video games.

Limited to 50 moms. Enrollment closes May 18.

Link in bio.

13/05/2026

Did you know there’s a lot happening on your kid’s school-issued device that nobody is telling you about?

Nicki Petrossi of is a former social media executive turned advocate who has made it her mission to pull back the curtain on the billion dollar ed tech industry and what it is actually doing to our kids.

She is sharing everything inside the Summit day 2. 💛

👉 Link in bio to grab your free spot before it’s gone.

12/05/2026

Dr. Alison Yeung is a family physician with a practice of over 1,200 patients and she started noticing something alarming. The rise in anxiety, depression, and ADHD in her young patients could often be traced back to the same thing. Excessive interactive screen time and digital media.ïżœ
She is one of six experts joining me for the panel discussion at the Summit and she is bringing the medical truth that most parents never hear from their own child’s doctor.ïżœ
The conversation is honest, provides clear guidance, and is exactly what you need right now as a parent navigating this digital world.

Free to watch for 24 hours.

If you’ve been on the fence, today is the day. đŸ’›ïżœ
👉 Link in bio to watch now for free before it’s gone.

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