1KHO 532: Taking Back the Neighborhood, How Family-First Tech Can Revive Real-World Childhoods| Russell York, COSMO Technologies

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Parenting, Kids & Family

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if technology didn’t keep kids inside—but actually helped launch them out the front door? In this powerful third conversation with COSMO Technologies CEO Russell York, we explore how family-first tech can help revive real-world childhoods, spark neighborhood friendships, and reconnect parents to peace of mind. With their newest release, the Junior Track 5, COSMO has reimagined GPS-enabled kids' watches to prioritize freedom, safety, and community. Russell shares why helicopter parenting is giving way to “satellite parenting”—a thoughtful model that allows kids to roam while still staying connected. We talk about why Big Tech has failed families, how back-to-school season is the new New Year, and what it takes to make screen-free summers actually work. Whether you’re homeschooling, working full-time, or somewhere in between, this episode offers both a mindset shift and a practical tool for reclaiming childhood in the digital age. Learn more and shop at CosmoTogether.com, and don’t miss the exclusive giveaway happening this week! A huge thank you to our sponsors! Check them ALL out below: Active Skin Repair: Visit ⁠www.ActiveSkinRepair.com⁠ to learn more about Active Skin Repair and their commitment to 1% for the planet and use code: 1000hours to save 20% on all Active Skin Repair products Select Quote: Head to ⁠www.selectquote.com/1000hours⁠ to learn more. BetterHelp: Visit ⁠www.BetterHelp.com/1000HOURS⁠ today to get 10% off your first month. Fay Nutrition: Visit ⁠www.FayNutrition.com/1000HOURS⁠ to see if you qualify for a dietitian for $0 CRU: Visit ⁠give.cru.org/hour⁠ to sign up for a $24 monthly gift, and receive a free copy of Until The Streetlights Come On Quince - Visit ⁠www.quince.com/outside⁠ and get free shipping and 365 day returns NIV Application Bible - visit ⁠www.NIVapplicationbible.com ⁠if you’re looking to grow in your understanding of Scripture and make it real in your daily life. Cozy Earth - Upgrade your summer sleep at ⁠www.cozyearth.com⁠ and use code OUTSIDE for 40% off their best-selling sheets, loungewear, and more. Lagoon - Go to⁠ LagoonSleep.com/OUTSIDE ⁠and take their awesome 2 minute sleep quiz to find your match.Use the code OUTSIDE for 15% off your first purchase Brave Books - Right now, you can get 20% off your first purchase at⁠ www.BRAVEBooks.com/1000hours⁠ with the code 1000HOURS. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast.
0:02.0	My name is Ginny Yorich and the founder of 1000 Hours Outside and one of our favorite guests ever, Russell York from Cosmo.
0:10.0	Well, welcome back.
0:11.0	Thank you so much and I gotta say congratulations.
0:13.0	I heard you guys cross 500 episodes recently.
0:16.0	Yes, we did.
0:17.0	It's been fantastic.
0:18.0	So it's really cool to look back.
0:20.0	And I've loved our conversations talking about ways to get kids out in this age where we're kind of afraid. And we want to make sure that our kids are getting this freedom to roam. So welcome back, Russell. I love talking about the Cosmo Watch because kids are out and about. You get all these amazing stories of
0:37.8	kids that are out doing what kids used to do, which is play. That's right. That's right. We like
0:42.9	to say we're taking back the neighborhood. We're giving parents permission to push their kids
0:46.9	out the front door and go have real life adventures. So we're very, we're very positive about
0:51.8	real world childhoods and what that means for families, especially today.
0:56.4	Yes. Okay, so here's what you talk about. You talk about 90s summer, but 2025 safety, which I love because you're pairing the two.
1:04.9	And I think that's what we need in this day and age. Talk to us about that. It's an amazing goal.
1:09.4	Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the 90s were a simpler time in some respects.
1:12.6	I think everybody likes to say that about the past, not that the 90s were so simple for in all respects.
1:19.2	But in a certain way, there's a magical moment of childhood that still existed in the 90s before the juggernaut of big technology came along and changed so much about the way
1:28.8	that we connect with each other and about the way that we think about safety. And, you know,
1:33.0	the statistics say that kids don't spend as much time outside as they did in the 90s by like
1:37.1	a wide margin. It's really, I've heard it used to be on average four hours a day that a kid
1:42.4	would spend outside playing with friends in like a non-school
	...

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