Book Discussion on Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World

Join author Devorah Heitner, Ph.D., on Zoom for a thought-provoking discussion of parenting in the digital world, moderated by Kari Olsen, St. Luke’s School Director of Well-Being & Academic Support.

With social media and constant connection, the boundaries of privacy are stretched thin. Devorah Heitner, Ph.D.'s new book Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World, shows parents how to help tweens and teens navigate boundaries, identity, privacy, and reputation in their digital world. Heitner shows us that by focusing on character, not the threat of getting caught or exposed, we can support our kids to be authentically themselves. Drawing on her extensive work with parents and schools as well as hundreds of interviews with kids, parents, educators, clinicians, and scholars, Heitner offers strategies for parenting our kids in an always-connected world.

REGISTER HERE (Registration will be handled by St. Luke's School.) A Zoom link will be included in your registration confirmation email. We encourage anyone interested in this topic to join the discussion regardless of if they have read the book.

About the Author:

Dr. Devorah Heitner is the author of Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World and Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN Opinion. She has a Ph.D. in Media/Technology & Society from Northwestern University and has taught at DePaul and Northwestern. She is delighted to be raising her own teenager and she lives with her family in Chicagoland. You can follow her on Substack and on Instagram @devorahheitnerphd.

About the Moderator:

Kari Olsen is St. Luke’s School Director of Well-Being & Academic Support. In her role, she works with both the Counseling and Academic Support teams. Kari is passionate about supporting the academic, social, and emotional needs of students. Before joining St. Luke’s, Kari served as a Program Manager at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, where she worked with high schools across the country as they developed social-emotional learning (SEL) programming in their schools. Prior to her time at Yale, she worked as a middle and high school administrator, middle and high school counselor, and elementary school teacher in the Washington, D.C. area. Kari holds two Master of Education degrees from George Mason University in Education Leadership and Counseling and Development. 

This session is offered in partnership with St. Luke's School.