FAQ & Resources to help Unplug

New Canaan Unplugged seeks to create both a community and a resource for parents in New Canaan to help navigate the social media and smart phone landscape. If you are looking to make a pledge, Wait Until 8th is a great resource. Wait Until 8th is a national organization that empowers families to delay giving children a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade.

• There are a variety of minimalist phones on the market, such as Light Phone and the Punkt. Traditional "dumb phones" are also viable options as they allow children to both call and text, and don't contain distracting apps and other content.
• There are also a variety of "locked down" smartphones available from Gabb, Trumi, Pinwheel, Bark, and others. These smartphones mostly rely on Android under the hood, and come with monitoring tools and limited access to apps, but all of them require a traditional cell phone plan.
• Check out Dumb Wireless for a more exhaustive list of minimalist phones and price comparisons
• Dumbphone Finder has a one stop comparison shop, mostly for flip phones

• Brick is a device that temporarily removes distracting apps (and their notifications) from your phone. It works with your existing smart phone, helping to streamline distracting interactions but still allowing access to make it less distracting. ($49)
• Unpluq is a token used with smart phone that helps you break bad phone habits by creating a physical barrier between you and your phone. Distracting apps of your choice are blocked until you consciously tap the tag to your phone and unlock them. ($79 for annual subscription)

There are still things you can do to support your child’s healthy use of technology once they have a smartphone, including:

• Create phone-free zones in your home, such as the dinner table and bedrooms
• Use a physical alarm clock (not a smartphone) to wake up in the morning
• Set the phone to grayscale (colors are more enticing and engrossing)
• Turn off all notifications, except from those that come from actual people (not machines)
• Use Apple’s Screentime or Android's Digital Wellbeing to block apps and notifications for periods when your child needs distraction-free time
• Work with your child to avoid or delete apps that make them feel bad while they are using them
• Use One Sec, which delays access to an app when your child opens it
• Take a look at some suggestions for making your iPhone into a dumbphone

• Study: Digital 'Pacifiers' Impede Emotional Regulation
• Parenting Children in the Age of Screens.
• Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation Among Young Adults in the U.S (NIH)
• Gen Z mental health: The impact of tech and social media (McKinsey)
• Good genes are nice, but joy is better (Harvard)
• Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (Surgeon General 2023)

• US Surgeon General Full warning on safety of Social media safe for children and adolescents. Outlines immediate steps we can take to mitigate the risk of harm
• Screen Free Promotes "Screen Free Week" in May and other options for getting away from screens
• "Flip Phone February" Join the movement to switch to a flip phone
• FairPlay Committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture
• Common Sense Media Reviews media and technology, and provides ratings of suitability for different age ranges
• Center for Humane Technology Leading a shift toward technology that strengthens our well-being, global democratic functioning, and shared information environment.
• Social Awakening Provides a unique perspective on the role of technology in our homes, schools, and in our society.
• Screenagers Movies, newsletters and blogs aimed to support parents of teenagers manage all things digital
• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt presents deeply researched data around impact of smart phones on childhood and recommendations for how to reverse its effects.

NEW YORK TIMES (Subscription may be required)

• Britian's viral "Smartphone Free Childhood" Campaign
• GenZ Has Regrets
• High Schoolers Need to do Less, so They can do Better
• We have a Dopamine Problem

THE ATLANTIC (Subscription may be required)

• Lighthouse Parenting
• The Dangers of Distracted Parenting

THE TODAY SHOW

• Today Show interviews with Teens about social media

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (Subscription may be required)

• My daughter is ready for her first smartphone. I’m not ready to give it to her.
• Your Kids Don't Need Smartphones
• Dumb Phones and Fax Machines are the New Boss Flex

OTHER OUTLETS

• Australia's Social Media Ban for 16 and under
• Americans check their phones 144 times a day. Here’s how to cut back
• Should Parents sign Smartphone Ban Pledges?
• Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation (Surgeon General 2023 Report)
• Taking Back Childhood from Phones—Finally

• Apple Screen Time Check