Social Media Wellness: Helping Tweens and Teens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World (Corwin Teaching Essentials)

Ana Homayoun's Social Media Wellness: Helping Tweens and Teens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World is an essential read for parents, educators, and anyone working with young people navigating the complexities of the digital age. Homayoun combines research-based insights with practical strategies to address the challenges tweens and teens face with social media, from managing screen time to maintaining mental health and well-being. One of the standout features of this book is its actionable advice. Homayoun doesn’t just highlight the problems; she provides clear, implementable steps for helping young people build healthier relationships with technology. Her "three Ss" framework—socialization, self-regulation, and safety—offers a holistic approach to understanding and supporting youth in the digital world. The anecdotes and real-life examples shared throughout the book make the content relatable and engaging. As a reader, I appreciated how she balanced her expertise with empathy, recognizing the unique pressures that come with growing up in today’s hyper-connected environment. Whether you’re looking to set better boundaries for your children’s online activities, foster open conversations about social media use, or simply understand how to guide teens toward a more balanced digital life, this book is a must-have resource. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to empower the next generation to thrive both online and offline.

We are currently reading this book as an entire school with all of my teachers and staff. Everyone is so engaged in the content, as it is relatable within the classroom and home. We are trying to get people not to read ahead. Thank you to the author, Ana for such insightful and researched information.

Sadly, social media has made the parenting and teaching journey exponentially more complicated than ever. This fantastic book is both relevant and practical - a must for parents and educators. Looking forward to the next publication....

As a parent or an educator sometimes we can feel incredibly overwhelmed by the new ‘playground’ kids spend so much time on these days. When our fears are so ‘loud’ they get in the way of much needed healthy connections. Reading this book has given me a realistic, balanced and practical platform to work from and I would highly recommend it. As an adult it helps YOU to help empower your kids through this ‘playground’ so that it doesn’t have to be all bad. If you only have time to read one book on the topic THIS is the one. I literally wanted to highlight every other page while reading it. This book invites you to engage in more informed conversations with kids, with some wonderful and practical ideas and discussion points you can have with your kids too. Thank you Ana Homayoun for giving us a better lens to look through, that promotes the power of healthy connections between adults on kids on the subject of technology!

Social Media Wellness is an excellent resource for anyone who has or deals with tweens and teens on a regular basis. The book starts out with an extensive overview of the social media landscape (“How We Got Here”) and overs an in-depth analysis on the different ways social media exists today (hint: it is all intertwined). The first three chapters give a solid background so that even someone who thinks they know a lot about technology and social media will likely learn something. What I love best about this book is that the back half is devoted to solutions and strategies - the author uses the framework of three Ss: healthy socialization, effective self-regulation and overall safety as a way to approach social media and technology wellness with kids and adults. I found that even though I was reading it with teens in mind there was definitely a lot applicable to adults as well. Excellent, thorough resource filled with smart strategies.

I'm the primary caregiver of a 12 year old boy, and I always feel as though I am telling him to put his Iphone away, and after a time it seemed as though I became a constant nag. This book was SO helpful, because it helped me realize other more effective approaches to helping him make better choices around his technology use. The book is full of suggestions and solutions, and the one that stands out the most how to help kids identify and reflect on their values in order to redirect attention to the present moment. She is clearly well-versed on how to work with teens on social media use, because her tips - like helping kids learn how to compartmentalize time - were practical and completely on point.

Absolutely fabulous. This book is well researched and presented in language parents and professionals alike can absorb. Homayoun provides the missing link: how can we help tweens/teens make the best of an exponentially changing online world. Using developmental psychology, she provides practical examples of what parents and educators can do in order to bridge gaps in understanding and guidance. As a clinician, I work with parents who have exhausted themselves attempting to keep a few steps ahead of their teen's online lives, only to engage in a futile cat/mouse game. Instead, get this book.

Very insightful! Interesting and helpful for parents/educators of teens.