A Community Event for Parents and Caregivers
Supporting Parents, Strengthening Families.
This February, Burnaby Family Life is offering two separate FREE sessions on parenting, technology, and digital use to support parents, caregivers, and professionals.
You are welcome to attend one or both sessions.
Navigating screens, apps, and devices with children can feel overwhelming. What helps? What hurts? How much is too much?
Together, we will explore how digital tools affect early language, communication, and family life—and how to make confident, informed choices that support healthy development. We will also look at practical, research-based ideas for supporting healthy digital media use for children and families.
Both sessions are interactive, practical, and based on current research, with time for discussion and questions.
Session 1 - Technology and Early Language Learning in Infants and Children
(For parents/caregivers of children 0 – 5 years old).
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: Pioneer 4535 Kingsway, 5th Floor, Burnaby
Free event with limited spots
To join Session 1 only on February 21, please register here:
Session 2 - Raising Children in the Digital Age: Evidence-Based Practices that Support Healthy Digital Media Use
(For parents/caregivers of children 6 -15 years old).
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2026
Time: 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Location: Pioneer 4535 Kingsway, 5th Floor, Burnaby
Free event with limited spots
To join Session 2 only on February 28, please register here:
Guest Speakers
February 21 Speakers
Henny Yeung
SFU LangDev Lab
Henny Yeung holds a BSc in Neurolinguistics from Duke University and earned an MA and PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of British Columbia. He then became a CNRS researcher in the Laboratoire Psychologie de la Perception at the Université Paris Cité and is now a faculty member in Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Simon Fraser University. Dr. Yeung is interested in the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in language acquisition, and directs the Language Learning and Development (LangDev) Lab.
Olivia Yung
SFU LangDev Lab
Fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a Triple Minor in Linguistics (Extended), Kinesiology, and Gerontology. She brings a multidisciplinary background spanning biotechnology, publishing, aviation, sports medicine, and film and television, unified by a sustained focus on communication across domains. Building on this foundation, her academic work examines the intersection of language, health, technology, and governance, with particular interest in technology-mediated early language learning.
February 28 Speakers
Joanna Peplak
Grow to Care Lab
Assistant Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University and Director of the Grow to Care Lab. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California–Irvine before joining SFU in 2023. Her research focuses on children’s social-emotional development—how care, empathy, and kindness grow through interactions with peers, parents, and digital media—and translates this work into strategies that support parents, educators, and health professionals in nurturing children’s well-being.
Vanessa C. Lucchese
Grow to Care Lab
Ph.D. student in the Psychology Department at Simon Fraser University, working with Dr. Peplak in the Grow to Care Lab. She is a 2025–2026 Impact Fellow for Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, an international non-profit focused on children’s healthy development in the digital world. Her research examines children’s and adolescents’ moral-emotional development and how it relates to their use of digital media, as well as how parents prepare children for independent screen use.