Together Let’s Slow Down Phones and Take Back Childhood.

Join the expanding movement of Marin K-8 families opting for basic phones. Let’s take it slowly with tech and help our kids grow up and thrive in real life (IRL).

Smartphones created the “great rewiring of childhood.” When adolescents traded in their flip phones for smartphones with millions of apps, it moved their social lives online and altered their development. Alarming research is emerging and the findings resonate with observations here in Marin: our kids’ mental health is at stake, partly due to our replacing the ancient "play-based childhood" with a "phone-based childhood." This is why ScreenSense is mobilizing the ‘Kids IRL’ movement for K-8 parents/caregivers through education, community, and collective action.

Change is possible, if we act together.

Parents across Marin have been in a difficult situation: either give kids access to time-zapping devices that disrupt childhood OR risk alienating them from their peers during a crucial stage in development. Taking action alone hasn’t worked. But together we can pave a new way forward.

As parents, let’s collectively delay app-filled smartphones until high school. If your child needs a phone before then, roll out simple solutions that focus on basic communication. If your child already has a smartphone, you can team up with other parents to dial back some of the available apps.

Together let’s reclaim childhood for its developmental purpose: to play, be outdoors, develop life skills and competence, and spend time IRL with other people. A phone should be a helpful tool to support these goals, not displace them.

This is a collective problem and a community shift here in Marin is our most practical and immediate solution. Parents coming together is powerful. Together let’s drive the local change we need to improve the health and wellbeing of our kids!

Click the button to:

  1. Join the movement. Add your name, grade, and school to the list of K-8 parents and guardians who have joined the parent pact to stick with basic phones until high school.  

  2. Build community. We will connect you to fellow parents and guardians at your school who have also joined this movement so you can build momentum and ongoing support.

For more:

  1. Spread the word. Share this webpage, this Instagram post about Kids IRL, or this flyer (este folleto) with the parents/caregivers of your child’s friends and classmates. The more people in your daily orbit who join this movement, the easier change will be.

  2. Connect with ScreenSense (i.e., Kids IRL HQ!) for related support. You can sign up for our monthly blog that offers one step towards healthy tech use and follow us on Instagram for bite-size tips.

  3. Find local IRL activities for kids, tweens, and teens. Foster independence, free play, and responsibility in real life. Get ideas from this related pilot project!

Stay tuned! ScreenSense will be mobilizing the Kids IRL movement throughout the 2024-25 school year with events and community engagement.

Invest in local change. You can help make a meaningful difference in Marin! Support this community-powered movement by making a tax-deductible donation.

Need support? No matter where you are on this parenting journey, get the support you need. See what services we offer.