Sophie Brickman
Writer, reporter, editor, and author of Baby Unplugged
Joy Hurd
Head of Lake Forest Country Day School
Baby, Unplugged: One Mother’s Search for Balance, Reason, and Sanity in the Digital Age
There seems to be an app or device for nearly every aspect of parenting today, from monitoring your baby and entertaining your toddler to connecting with other parents for tips, tricks, and socializing. It’s easy for parents to become overwhelmed with all the choices of which gadgets to use and when, but what if you didn’t have to? Well, for all the parents of preschoolers or younger, here’s the simple truth: with very few exceptions, technology for kids under the age of five is basically worthless. The same goes for parent-targeted tech shilled out by Silicon Valley. If you want to raise a resilient, smart, successful human and minimize your parenting anxiety, shove your phone in the freezer and forget about it.
The mother of three young children, journalist Sophie Brickman interviewed experts, academics, doctors, and innovators for advice and insight about the effects of technology on child-rearing and parenting. In her first book, Baby, Unplugged: One Mother’s Search for Balance, Reason, and Sanity in the Digital Age, she weaves this in-depth research into a very personal, and often humorous, journey of becoming a parent alongside her tech-loving husband, offering an engaging and illuminating examination of our tech-saturated world.
Brickman is a writer, reporter, and editor who has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Saveur, the San Francisco Chronicle, and other outlets. A Harvard graduate, she lives in New York City with her husband and three young children.
Brickman will be in conversation with Joy Hurd, Head of School at Lake Forest Country Day School in Lake Forest, IL.
This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available later on our website and YouTube channel.
BONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy of Baby, Unplugged from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Brickman and Hurd that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page.
Event Sponsors
- Baker Demonstration School
- Beacon Academy
- Bennett Day School
- Catherine Cook School
- Chiaravalle Montessori School
- Christ Church Winnetka
- Compass Health Center
- Countryside Day School
- Family Service Center
- Glencoe D35
- Haven Youth and Family Services
- Kenilworth D38
- Lake Bluff D65
- Lake Forest Country Day School
- Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools
- Mindful Psychology Associates PC
- New Trier Parents’ Association
- North Shore Country Day
- Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy
- Regina Dominican College Preparatory High School
- Rogers Park Montessori School
- Roycemore School
- Sacred Heart Schools
- Science & Arts Academy
- Stevenson High School D125
- The Alliance for Early Childhood
- Wolcott College Prep
- Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart

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