Free Screening of Screenagers: Elementary School Edition

Are you watching kids become too accustomed to using technology at too young an age? Physician and filmmaker Delaney Ruston saw that with her kids and learned that the average kid spends many hours a day looking at screens. She wondered about the impact of all this screen time and the friction occurring in homes and schools around negotiating screen time.
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In Screenagers: Elementary School Age Edition, Dr. Ruston takes a deeply personal approach as she explores the vulnerable corners of family life, including her own, to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics, and internet addiction.
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Through insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, Screenagers: Elementary School Age Edition reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions for empowering kids to navigate the digital world and find balance.

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In 2015, Rev. Dr. Thomas Sluberski, Professor Emeritus of Concordia College – New York, inaugurated and funded a film series to help screen films of importance to the community and to encourage student filmmakers at Concordia College - New York with scholarship support. The series kicked off on October 3rd of that year with a free screening of “Girl Rising,” a 2013 documentary directed by Academy Award Nominee, Richard E. Robbins, that highlights international stories of young women striving to overcome cultural and economic barriers to education. Although Concordia College - New York closed in 2021, the funds were transferred to Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School to continue the legacy of the college and this important initiative.

Renamed “The Rev. Dr. Thomas Sluberski Concordia Legacy Film Series,” the series seeks to screen films of importance that help the community “to know, live and share the love of Christ.” Each year one film dedicated to an adult audience and one film geared to children will be screened at The Picture House of Bronxville. Films may be from a variety of genres and should help filmgoers to engage their faith and values through the art of filmmaking. The inaugural film in the series will be the 2021 documentary, “The Case for Heaven” directed by Mani Sandoval on October 30, 2023.

The screenings are offered at no cost and the community is invited.

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Our Series Founder: The Rev. Dr. Thomas Sluberski

Thomas Richard Sluberski holds an earned doctorate in theology and literature from the University of Heidelberg in Germany, a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, and a Master of Arts in English literature from Washington University in Saint Louis. He also studied at the University of Vienna in Austria, Western Reserve University, the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, and New York University. From 1972 to 2004, he was a tenured full professor of English, Religion, and the Humanities in the Concordia University System and especially Concordia College-New York. He also taught at Valparaiso University, in Russia and Brazil. He was on the staff of the Russian American Press Center and Co-directed the first live four-continent television special from Russia, The United States. Korea and Ghana. All of his education was financed by scholarships and fellowships among them: The Institute of International Education, the Austrian and Bavarian governments, the World Council of Churches, and the Lutheran World Federation.

He was a research assistant for the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Executive Director of the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. He is a national faculty member of the United States Sports Academy and elected governor of the American Society of Rio de Janeiro, a member of the Polish Academy of the Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for whom he judges the TV Emmys.

Dr. Sluberski was a beloved member of Village Lutheran Church and passed away on March 2, 2024. In his generous philanthropy, he graciously endowed funds to continue the series into the future. We are grateful to our patron and friend for making the series possible.

Host or Publisher Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School