To St. John LaLande parents,
Smartphones are incredibly powerful and have many uses, but they also come with hazards, especially for young people. We are inviting parents at St. John LaLande to support and encourage each other to have our children “wait until 8th” before owning a smartphone.
The smartphone and social media often put young people in their own world with their tiny little screen. They have access to violence, pornography, and other inappropriate content. Even the best content monitoring and filtering software is not perfect. Social media can be overwhelming with toxic messaging that can be especially devastating to adolescents during their formative years. And rather than alleviating anxiety, researchers are increasingly concluding that smart phone and social media use by young people often increase their feelings of anxiety, loneliness, depression, and even suicidal thoughts (see Jonathan Haidt’s, The Anxious Generation, 2024).
What can we do? First, we can know that we’re not alone! We are encouraging any parent who is interested to sign our school pledge and the Wait Until 8th pledge, www.waituntil8th.org:
By signing this pledge, you promise not to give your child a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade...If you would like your child to have a basic phone that just calls and texts, you still can sign the pledge! The basic phone avoids many of the distractions and dangers of the smartphone.
We ask you to prayerfully consider whether you can sign on with us. Children are different and so are circumstances. If a child needs a phone, that is up to their parents. But if you are feeling pressured to give your child a phone, but don’t really want to, we want to say that you are not alone and we have your back. Join with us!
God bless you and your families,
SJL Parent Advisory Board
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Smartphones are incredibly powerful and have many uses, but they also come with hazards, especially for young people. We are inviting parents at St. John LaLande to support and encourage each other to have our children “wait until 8th” before owning a smartphone.
The smartphone and social media often put young people in their own world with their tiny little screen. They have access to violence, pornography, and other inappropriate content. Even the best content monitoring and filtering software is not perfect. Social media can be overwhelming with toxic messaging that can be especially devastating to adolescents during their formative years. And rather than alleviating anxiety, researchers are increasingly concluding that smart phone and social media use by young people often increase their feelings of anxiety, loneliness, depression, and even suicidal thoughts (see Jonathan Haidt’s, The Anxious Generation, 2024).
What can we do? First, we can know that we’re not alone! We are encouraging any parent who is interested to sign our school pledge and the Wait Until 8th pledge, www.waituntil8th.org:
By signing this pledge, you promise not to give your child a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade...If you would like your child to have a basic phone that just calls and texts, you still can sign the pledge! The basic phone avoids many of the distractions and dangers of the smartphone.
We ask you to prayerfully consider whether you can sign on with us. Children are different and so are circumstances. If a child needs a phone, that is up to their parents. But if you are feeling pressured to give your child a phone, but don’t really want to, we want to say that you are not alone and we have your back. Join with us!
God bless you and your families,
SJL Parent Advisory Board
LINKS AND RESOURCES
