Sara Gonzales calls out a parenting trend that hands kids over to screens, and in a recent episode of her show she talks with country artist and children’s book author Buddy Brown about pushing families back into nature and away from passive digital babysitting. They argue for deliberate, old-school habits that build social skills and curiosity, and Brown explains why his new, wholesome book and its nostalgic illustrations are part of that push. The conversation mixes personal stories, practical habits, and a clear plea for parents to be intentional about how they raise their children.
Sara Gonzales opens the conversation bluntly. “I just have a big problem with this generation of parents that are farming their parenting out to screens,” she says. That sentence sets the tone: this is about more than entertainment, it’s about who’s doing the actual parenting.
Buddy Brown joins the chat with a clear mission to nudge families outdoors and into real-life moments. He’s known for his music and his show Backwoods Wisdom, and he’s translated that same ethos into a children’s book called “Ain’t No Wi-Fi in the Woods.” Brown says he wrote it because he thinks much of today’s kids’ literature doesn’t serve kids well, so he aimed for something wholesome and timeless.
He leans into nostalgia to make the point that small cultural choices shape childhood. “It’s the illustrator from ‘Winnie-the-Pooh.’ I mean, we went all the way, and it really came together great,” Brown says, highlighting the deliberate, old-fashioned feel he wanted for the project. That choice isn’t about rejecting progress, he says; it’s about offering an alternative to the screen-first default.
Sara shares stories from restaurants and parks where phones dominate interactions, and she doesn’t sugarcoat her disappointment. “We go out to a restaurant … and I look around, and everyone’s on the iPhones and on the iPads, and it makes me sad. It makes my heart sad for this generation of children who don’t understand the human connection like some of the kids who do not just live on screens,” she says, and the emotion is obvious. That sadness fuels the call to act rather than to watch passively.
Brown steers the talk toward concrete habits parents can adopt immediately. “One of the things that we made our kids do from the time they were about 4 years old, which is very early, but we made them look at the waiter and order … and what that did was it just gave them that ability to not be afraid of adults, to make eye contact, which so few kids do now,” he shares. It’s a small, practical nudge that builds confidence and communication skills without drama.
The guests worry about the long-term effects of raising kids in a screen-first environment. “All they’re doing is scrolling, and they’re typing stuff to their friends … and they’re not actually getting real human companionship. And I just worry what that does not just to their brains but just to their psyche in general,” Sara laments, calling attention to social and emotional costs beyond glossy entertainment metrics. They both see a pattern that could cost kids basic workplace and relationship skills later on.
Brown is blunt about the payoff for parents who resist the easy route. “Fast-forward 15, 20 years, [your kids] are going to be standouts in whatever they’re doing. … They’re going to thank you later on.” That future-focused argument reframes small sacrifices now as investments in adult competence and confidence. The book and the conversation offer ideas and encouragement for families ready to swap passive screen time for active, curious living.
