# 1 Most Intelligent New Year's Resolution for Parents

In 2026, so many parents have caught on to the dangers of screen use for their children, thanks to the work of people like Jonathan Haidt and his book, The Anxious Generation. 

The Resolution

Consequently, many parents have made it a New Year's resolution to severely limit screen time and not just for their children. 

For themselves too!

Each wise parent knows that her children will imitate her behavior. 

If you are polite, your children will be polite. If you eat in moderation, your children will eat in moderation. If you read books, your children will read books.

Of course, this isn't a guarantee because there are other factors at play, but it's a good general principle to live by. As the saying goes: Monkey see, Monkey do—and this includes screen use too.

Habit is the Key

If you were not amongst the parents who resolved to reduce screen time for their children in 2026, do not despair. It is never too late to put good habits into place.

Good people are the sum total of good habits, as Aristotle taught us.

Instilling good habits in your children from an early age will make all of the difference. But again, there is never a guarantee. We do our best as parents, and we leave the outcomes up to a higher power, God, if I may. 

Our job is to understand what we have to do. One of the things to consider today is the irresponsibility of the social media companies regarding your children’s well-being, and how it will affect your children's lives. 

“Boys are at a greater risk than girls of “failure to launch.” They are more likely to become young adults who are “Not in Education, Employment, or Training.” ”

— Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation

An Amazing Woman Who Has A Lot to Teach Us

Now, I am politically neutral, as I think most politicians have their heads screwed on backwards these days, so what I am about to tell you is about the person, not the politics.

I watched the last interview with the beloved Jane Goodall, which aired after she passed, may she rest in peace. She tells her host that she would like to put Musk, Trump, Netanyahu, and a few others in a rocket and send them to the planet Musk is trying to inhabit. 

I was surprised to hear her say these things, but then she knew she would be dead when her interview was aired.

As I listened, I have to admit that I was disappointed she hadn’t mentioned men, such as Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, because they have definitely earned a place in that rocket.

John Taylor Gatto said that schools were dangerous places for children, but I would take it a step further and say that the Zuckerberg’s and Gates of this world are dangerous men for the children of this earth.

They are messing with the healthy development of a child’s heart and mind.

Freefalling Madness

With more than very limited screen use, we have to recognize that our children’s ability to think clearly, rationally, creatively, and logically is at stake, as well as their emotional and mental health.

I have watched the dumbing down and over-medicating of America’s youth during my lifetime—this stuff is real. 

And don't be shocked.

The idea of controlling people is as old as mankind. How much easier is it to control a non-thinking, medicated people than a people who can't be fooled?

Jane Goodall said these were the darkest times she has seen, but she also said never lose hope.

Fight to the end because we must always keep up our fight for our children's sake and for our children's children.

Our precious ones do not need to be corrupted by this stuff. They do not need to be brain-damaged by this stuff. They do not need to be made soulless by this stuff. 

People who can think creatively and logically will be the people who are in demand for the future we are facing. Life as we know it is changing, and it is changing fast. 

It's up to you and how you raise your children.

Be brave. Go against the grain. Find like-minded people. And say no to screens.

If you haven't made zero screen-use for your children a New Year's resolution yet, right now is the perfect time. Raise them without it. It's so much easier. 

I did it. My parents, for the most part, did it. Parents throughout history have done it. Many, many young parents are saying no to screens for their children, even today when screen avoidance has become virtually impossible for adults. 

Because they know it is harming their children, and as mama bears, it's unacceptable. 

“There is a “God-shaped hole” in every human heart. Or at least, many people feel a yearning for meaning, connection, and spiritual elevation. A phone-based life often fills that hole with trivial and degrading content. The ancients advised us to be more deliberate in choosing what we expose ourselves to. ”

— The Anxious Generation

Don’t miss your free download: 10 Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.

Get a copy of Liz’s “could not homeschool without” book, Education’s Not the Point: How Schools Fail to Train Children’s Minds and Nurture Their Characters with Essays by John Taylor Gatto and Dorothy Sayers.

About Elizabeth Y. Hanson

Liz Hanson helps parents raise and educate whole children by bridging timeless wisdom with modern research.

As an educator, writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach with 23 years of experience, Liz specializes in guiding families through the transformative early years and the homeschooling journey. After successfully homeschooling her own children, she now devotes her expertise to helping other parents get it right from the start.

Liz is a homeschooling thought-leader, as well as the creator of three unique online courses:

• Raise Your Child Well

• Smart Homeschooler Academy

• How to Raise a Child Who Loves to Read

Whether you're navigating early childhood, considering homeschooling, or wanting to nurture a genuine love of learning in your child, Liz offers practical guidance rooted in proven principles.

One-on-one consultations available, too.

"I know Elizabeth Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”

—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. For a copy of The Short Angry History of Compulsory Schooling, click here.

What Key Trait Do Independent Thinkers Possess?→

It's easy to adorn oneself according to the latest fad, but it’s not so easy to stand in one’s truth when it goes against mob rule.

Learning to think and act independently requires courage: the courage to do what's right and just even in the face of ridicule, the loss of friends, or a loss of income.

John Taylor Gatto was an excellent example. He quit teaching when he was in his 60s, because he discovered that schools were causing more harm to children than good.

As a public schoolteacher, he believed that he was a part of the problem.

John sent an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal and announced his decision to quit teaching in schools. When you are a couple of years away from retirement and a pension plan, it takes a lot of courage to walk away.

“Character is higher than intellect.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sporting purple hair and nose rings is not a sign of an independent character. People who dye their hair crazy colors and fill their bodies with tattoos and rings are following a group-think fad in spite of their belief to the contrary.

We should teach our children to dress well and to conform to outward standards of propriety but to be nonconforming in their attitudes, beliefs and values.

Because the greater independence of the mind is not manifest outwardly; it's an inward state.

To raise our children to be independent in mind, we need to foster courage in their characters.

People often mistake courage for the absence of fear, but the absence of fear can lead to rashness. Courage is not an absence of fear, but the ability to act in spite of one’s fear.

For example, my children performed at piano recitals, recited poetry to small audiences, and attended public speaking classes. Through these kind of activities, they learned to develop their courage muscle.

Permitting your child to run into a local grocery store alone, to climb a tree, or to ride a bike for the first time are all activities that will strengthen his courage.

Every day there will be opportunities to let our children strengthen their courage.

As we know from Aristotle, and as we can observe in our own lives,  our daily habits add up to the quality of our characters.

Children like to challenge themselves, and we need to encourage them to do so. The more they learn to face challenges in spite of the difficulty or discomfort, the more courage they develop.

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”

— Mark Twain

Having courage will also help to preserve their moral integrity, because having moral integrity requires us to stand in our truth both privately and in public.

Someone once told me that I needed to develop a “public” persona. In other words, I should have two selves; one for the public and one for my private life.

But I believe the goal is to have one self.

As Shakespeare said in Hamlet:

“This above all: To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Don’t miss our free download, Ten Books Every Well-Educated Child Should Read.

Teach your child to read before sending him to school! Learn more about Elizabeth's unique course, How to Teach Your Child to Read and Raise a Child Who Loves to Read.

For parents of children under age seven who would like to prepare their child for social and academic success, please begin with Elizabeth’s singular online course, Raise Your Child to Thrive in Life and Excel in Learning.

When you join the Smart Homeschooler Academy online course for parents, Elizabeth will make homeschooling manageable for you. She’ll guide you in helping your kids reach their intellectual potential and developing good character.

As a homeschooler, you will feel confident, calm, and motivated knowing you have the tools and support you need to homeschool successfully.

Elizabeth Y. Hanson is a homeschooling thought-leader and the founder of Smart Homeschooler.

As an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach, Elizabeth has 21+ years of experience working in education.

Developing a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child, she devotes her time to helping parents get it right.

Elizabeth is available for one-on-one consultations as needed.

"I know Elizabeth Y. Hanson as a remarkably intelligent, highly sensitive woman with a moral nature and deep insight into differences between schooling and education. Elizabeth's mastery of current educational difficulties is a testimony to her comprehensive understanding of the competing worlds of schooling and education. She has a good heart and a good head. What more can I say?”

—John Taylor Gatto Distinguished educator, public speaker, and best-selling author of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling