CMRRL Executive Director Will Maurer to Deliver Opening Keynote at 2026 Parents as Teachers International Conference
The Children’s Media Research and Reform Lab (CMRRL) is proud to announce that its Executive Director, Will Maurer, will deliver the opening Keynote Presentation at the 2026 Parents as Teachers International Conference on October 5, 2026 in Portland Oregon.
Screen Time in the Early Years: Moving Beyond the Confusion to Build a Healthy Digital Ecosystem.
LOS ANGELES, May 8, 2026 — The conference will convene approximately 2,500 home visiting professionals, early childhood leaders, researchers, and family advocates from across the globe to explore the evolving landscape of family support and early learning. This important collaboration reflects a shared recognition that today’s parents urgently need research-informed clarity and practical tools to navigate an increasingly complex digital world.
Will Maurer brings a rare dual perspective: two decades as a media industry ‘insider’, and the lived experience of a new father confronting the worries and misinformation surrounding early screen time. That experience propelled him to not only change his life’s work but to commit to reforming the very system that produces and markets children's media. Maurer shares his experience as a father, and as a media executive turned industry reformer, in his recently released TEDx Talk - “Screen Time for Children Under 2: Fixing a Broken System”, which will be presented as a ‘lunch and learn’ during the conference.
Maurer points to the realities that parents are experiencing, and that most screen time guidance ignores:
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Screen time typically starts by four months of age
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Average daily viewing time approaches one hour by six months
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More than 75% of infants are watching television before their first birthday
The concern: this is happening long before developing brains can process what they’re seeing. 80% of brain development happens in the first three years. These experiences shape the foundation for all future learning, behavior, and health.
Bridging the Gap: The CMRRL & Parents as Teachers Shared Mission
The collaboration between CMRRL and Parents as Teachers reinforces both organizations' commitment to the principle that parents and caregivers are their children’s first and most influential teachers. Maurer’s keynote will provide the Parents as Teachers global network with a new framework for understanding the early screen time ecosystem and the critical necessity for digital literacy.
Attendees will leave the session with:
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A Scientific Deep-Dive: Clarity on how screen experiences affect the rapidly developing brains of young children, and how misrepresentation through marketing and labeling creates a false security for parents.
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The "Nutritional" Framework: Practical tools to distinguish high-quality, developmentally aligned programming from "junk food media", and how to transform screens from a barrier into a tool for attuned co-viewing and human connection.
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Systemic Advocacy: A roadmap for empowering parents with the understanding and tools they need to move beyond guilt toward a parent-driven demand for industry-wide accountability and safety standards.
Translating Research and Science into Actionable Solutions
At CMRRL, Maurer and his team operate on a core conviction: the screen time crisis is the result of a systemic failure, not a parenting failure. We believe in empowering parents, educators, practitioners and caregivers with the knowledge, confidence, tools and resources to navigate a complex and confusing digital ecosystem, making the best informed decisions about screen time in the early years.
“In preparing to become a new father, there were many topics that caused me concern; from creating a safe home to nutrition to sleep. Screen time was not on my list, but it quickly snuck up on us, and in those moments, I was unprepared for the realities of being a new parent in a digital world. Having spent two decades inside the very system shaping children’s media experiences, I dove into the research on screen time expecting guidance and clarity, but became overwhelmed and confused by all the vague, unrealistic, and conflicting advice. What I found instead, was a systemic failure; one that prioritizes profit, engagement metrics, and content designed for prolonged engagement over the health and wellbeing of young children.” - Will Maurer
About Children’s Media Research and Reform Lab (CMRRL):
CMRRL is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting digital wellbeing through rigorous research, evidence-based standards, education and public advocacy.
About Will Maurer:
Will contributes to global conversations on digital wellbeing, ethical media design, and systemic change through keynote presentations, workshops, and media appearances. He translates the complex research of CMRRL into actionable digital literacy for parents, educators, and practitioners, equipping them with the tools to ensure their 'digital home' meets the same standards of care, intention, and evidence-based safety as their physical one.
About Parents as Teachers:
Parents as Teachers builds strong communities, thriving families and children who are healthy, safe, and learning. We match parents and caregivers with trained professionals who make regular personal home visits during a child’s earliest years in life, from pregnancy through kindergarten. The internationally recognized evidence-based home visiting model is backed by over 40 years of research-proven outcomes for children and families. Parents as Teachers currently serves over 188,000 families annually in all 50 U.S. states, 138 Tribal organizations, and six other countries. Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc. is located in St. Louis, MO.
Media Contact:
Will Maurer, Executive Director
press@cmrrl.org · 818-679-4868
Schedule an interview: cmrrl.org/press
Responses within 4 business hours