Helping Our Kids Have an Embodied Childhood: A Conversation with Bronwyn Foley
What happens when our children’s online world becomes so compelling that it starts to compete with the real world?
At our recent ADHDKC Parent Group, Bronwyn Foley joined us for a thought-provoking conversation about raising children in an increasingly digital world. Her presentation, The Disembodied Childhood: Raising Kids in the Age of Electronics, explored the unique challenges screens and online platforms can create for all children—and why those challenges can be especially significant for kids with ADHD.
Bronwyn brought both research and lived experience as a parent, coach, and person with ADHD. Her message wasn't simply “take away the screens.” Instead, she encouraged parents to think about what we want our children to experience, learn, and become—and how we can build a family environment that supports those goals.
A few highlights from the conversation with Bronwyn
Technology is an unfair fight for the ADHD brain. Children with ADHD may already have reward-sensitive nervous systems, emotional dysregulation, delay aversion, and a tendency to seek stimulating or immediately rewarding experiences. Put that brain in front of technology intentionally designed to capture and hold attention, and the challenge becomes even greater. Bronwyn emphasized that this isn't simply a matter of children being “bad” or parents needing to enforce more rules.
Movement and nature matter. A lot. Bronwyn described movement as one of the most important pieces of an ADHD-friendly childhood and encouraged families to look for opportunities to get outside, move, play, participate in sports, and experience the natural world.
Gaming isn't necessarily all good or all bad. Gaming can provide opportunities for friendship, teamwork, and practicing social skills. The question is what children are getting from the experience—and whether those skills and relationships extend into their real-world lives, or whether gaming becomes a place to hide from them.
Think beyond rules: character, judgment, and standards. Bronwyn shares her framework of helping children develop character, judgment, and standards so they can eventually make good decisions when parents aren't there to make the rules for them.
Build an embodied family, not just an electronic policy. Bronwyn encouraged families to create simple, clear boundaries around technology while also having ongoing conversations about why those boundaries exist. Family storytelling, modeling our own decision-making, playing together, spending unstructured time together, and talking about family values all help children develop their own internal “coach.”
And perhaps the most reassuring takeaway: you don't have to change everything at once.
As Bronwyn reminded us at the end of the discussion, even small changes can shift a family system. You don't have to rewrite the entire story of your family's relationship with technology. Start with a couple of steps, start the conversations, and keep moving forward.
Watch or listen to the full conversation
There is so much more in this presentation—including discussion about social media, gaming, AI, pornography, gambling, family technology policies, and practical ways parents can begin creating a healthier balance.
Watch the full recording above or go to YouTube to watch and subscribe to our channel or comment on the video. You can also watch from our Substack or listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
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