About
Welcome to The Analog Family. I’m a Canadian freelance writer, editor, and author of Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance (New Society Publishers, 2023).
I spent 10 years as a senior editor and staff writer at Treehugger, a major environmental news website. My writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Motherly, Discovery Network, Huffington Post, Medium, Green Child magazine, and other publications. I have worked as a contract editor for individuals and companies, including Allrecipes, Danone, Kantar, Angi, Macmillan, Taunton Press, and more. I am a staff writer for a podcast called Where Parents Talk and, many years ago, had a popular parenting blog called Feisty Red Hair.
Some examples of my work:
Globe and Mail: My son is starting high school and he still doesn’t have a cell phone
Toronto Star: Where are all the real toys this Christmas?
A clip of me speaking on CBC News The National (29:48)
Inside the Village podcast: Kids are wasting their lives staring at cell phones
Please check out my website.
What Readers Can Expect
In this newsletter, I write about digital media and the effect that a screen-based life has on children, as well as parents. I am not anti-tech, but I am against letting technology take over every aspect of our lives, especially when it means that kids miss out on formative experiences.
I delve into the latest research. I read a lot of books and talk to experts. I defend the power of small changes and tweaks to everyday habits being an effective way to fight back against the digital deluge that’s happening in our broader culture, schools, and businesses. I argue for a reclamation of childhood, of not “adultifying” kids too soon and giving them a chance to enjoy an imaginative, play-filled stage of life that can only ever be experienced once.
I am pro-independence and resilience and risky outdoor play. I fret about parental surveillance and helicoptering. But I am also a mother of three kids growing up in a digtial era, who’s navigating the social and logistical challenges of it all on a daily basis. In other words, I get it!
As often as possible, I will send out updates on whatever is on my mind regarding digital media and parenting and children and our screen-steeped culture. I may also throw in posts about other things I’m doing or thinking about, like travel, food, and book reviews.
I hope that The Analog Family can be a space where readers feel informed, supported, and challenged to resist the technophilic status quo, and ask whether, perhaps, there is a better way to spend our days than glued to our devices. Most importantly, I want readers to know that they’re not alone. This topic is hot and fraught, and it’s not going away any time soon.
Some Personal Background
I graduated from the University of Toronto with degrees in English and history. I love to travel and speak three other languages (Italian, Portuguese, French). My hobbies include CrossFit, reading, hosting dinner parties, and playing violin in a local symphony. I’m an award-winning public speaker and a community leader who has worked extensively with refugee resettlement. I live with my husband and three children in Ontario, Canada.
If you enjoy my work, please consider making a financial pledge. At this point, all posts are free, but eventually I will activate pledges and offer various paid subscription options. The Analog Family is purely a labour of love thus far, but it takes a lot of time and energy! Pledges are a wonderful motivator for this work that I consider to be more important than ever.
For speaking inquiries or freelance assignments, please contact me directly at knmartinko@gmail.com or find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
To order my book, it’s available from New Society Publishers and Amazon and everywhere else that books are sold. E-book and audiobook editions are available, too. (Fun fact: I narrated the audiobook.)
