Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line shows 'Screenagers'

Havre’s Boys & Girls Club is bringing a movie to town Wednesday that looks at a common question in the digital age: How much time is too much for children and youths to spend looking at a screen?

Gal Phillips, development director at Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line said everyone is invited to the showing of “Screenagers,” which starts about 5:15 p.m.

“This isn’t good information for only children and youth in today’s society,” Phillips said, “but also for parents and grandparents or guardians to learn how they can try to reduce the stress and struggles at home, many of which stem from electronics, social media, video games, academics and addiction to the internet, by empowering their children to use electronics wisely.”

Following the screening, people will fill out a short survey, at about 6:15 p.m., then the club will serve a steak dinner.

The showing and dinner are free of charge — as long as the diners watch the entire movie and fill out the survey.

Phillips said the club applied to screen the movie, was chosen as a host site and was given a stipend to cover expenses.

The filmmaker, a doctor, mother of two and lecturer as well as a filmaker, Delaney Ruston, said on the film’s website that she saw her own children “scroll through life, with their rapid-fire thumbs and six-second attention span” and started researching the issue. She found the average child spends 6.5 hours each day looking at screens, and wondered about the impact and friction of the screen times.

Screenings of the award-winning documentary only are available at community events.

Phillips said the staff members of Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line thought the screening would be appropriate.

“The leadership staff here at the club feels like this information could be beneficial to help families that may be dealing with these struggles at home, as we have seen so many of these instances personally, right here at the club,” Phillips said. “We found that it seemed to be very interesting information as many of us do not understand that there can be so many problems associated with it.”

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http://www.screenagersmovie.com/