Sign Sprague's Wait Until 8th Pledge
Thank you to Sprague mother Allison S. Baker, MD, Child, Adolescent and Perinatal Psychiatrist, for spearheading this initiative.
Did you know? The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity.
As a child psychiatrist and Sprague Mom, I am deeply invested in our school community's health. We all want our children and one another to thrive at school, at home, and in our lives. Being fully present and with all of our available cognitive capacities is an essential ingredient of health.
This is a national pledge that empowers parents to rally together to delay giving a SMARTPHONE* until at least the end of 8th grade. By banding together, this will decrease the pressure felt by kids and parents alike over the kids having a smartphone. There are so many reasons to wait. Ten years old is the average age children get their first smartphone. We can change this as a community and directly improve the mental health of our children and families.
More than 60,000 parents in all 50 states have said yes to waiting on smartphones for their children.
Please note that this pledge is for smartphones only. 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 potential dangers of the smartphone. There are several basic phones here.
A pledge becomes "active" once 10 or more families from a grade at a school sign. The organizers designed the pledge this way so you don't have to fear "what if I am the only parent that signs this in my kid's grade." This takes the pressure off because the pledge only kicks in once at least 10 families sign from your grade.
Will you join us?
To learn more and sign the pledge, please visit www.waituntil8th.org or check out Wait Until 8th’s Instagram account.
If you're into it, join me, sign the pledge!
If you are on the fence, I encourage you to read the recent article from the Atlantic Monthly, End the Phone-Based Childhood Now or check out the book it was based on.
Join the Sprague community as we Wait Until 8th!
