“SCREENAGERS: Growing Up in the Digital Age”

“SCREENAGERS: Growing Up in the Digital Age,” a new documentary screening Wednesday night at 7 pm at John Marshall High School in Los Feliz, examines the impact of digital screen time on developing adolescent brains.  Co-producers Karin Gornick and Lisa Tabb will be in attendance and will lead a Q&A afterwards. Parents are encouraged to bring their kids in 5th grade and above.

After watching her own teenagers constantly on their phones, computers or playing video games, physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston started doing some research. She was shocked to learn the average teenager spends 6.5 hours a day looking at screens, not including using a computer for school work.

Starting with her own family, Ruston follows several families and explores struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. She incorporates research and interviews with experts about how tech time affects kids’ development, and offers solutions on how adults can empower their kids to best navigate the digital world to find balance.

“SCREENAGERS” is making its Los Angeles debut at John Marshall High School. The movie is only being screened in community settings like schools or churches and temples or by companies, according to Lisa Tabb, co-producer of the film, who told the Buzz she has received over 600 inquiries for screening the film in the last several weeks.  Tabb, a childhood friend of filmmaker Delaney Ruston, is a television producer and content developer for news and unscripted television. For the last 15 years she’s been a news producer at ABC 7 News in San Francisco.

“We want people to have a conversation and share solutions,” said Tabb, who explained how the screenings get parents together, often with their students, to talk about the issue and develop strategies for managing screen time.

If you can’t make Wednesday’s showing or want to show the film to your school or community, screenings can be hosted for a fee of $500. The filmmakers encourage groups to recoup their costs by charging a ticket price and the additional funds are kept as a fundraiser for the organization.

Click here to view the trailer and learn more about the film or the following link: http://www.screenagersmovie.com/.