ScreenWise Ann Arbor Parent Pact
1. Delay smartphones until high school
Explore alternatives. Landlines, basic phones, and watches keep kids reachable without the rabbit hole.
2. No social media until at least 16
Young brains are still wiring. They’ll thank us later.
3. Encourage wise & healthy technology in schools
Together, we can give our kids free play, real-world connection, and face-to-face friendships.
4. Support other families
Let's teach students how to use computers rather than using gamified EdTech apps to teach core subjects.
"I would like the neighborhood to agree on a personal phone ban until a certain age. It’s a collective action problem that cannot be solved family by family."
— Michael Oswalt, AAPS Parent
Does your child already have a smartphone? You’re welcome here.
This is a zero-judgment zone. Many of us are navigating this in real time. Maybe you have older kids, or are still learning. All are welcome, no matter where you’re starting from.
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This is a community for anyone who wants to better understand how smartphones and social media are changing childhood — and how to raise kids who are independent, confident, focused, and resilient. Many of us are also reflecting on our own tech use, looking for ways to reclaim attention, connection, and well-being in our own lives.
Join the ScreenWise Ann Arbor Parent Pact
Childhood is remarkable: a period of extraordinary growth physically, emotionally, and relationally. It’s also precious and fleeting.
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Kids’ healthy growth and experience of joy and freedom depends on the environments we create for them. Unstructured play in the real world nourishes them. Smartphones and social media, introduced too early and without limits, work against that nourishment, fragmenting attention, displacing play, and feeding anxiety and depression in ways clearly documented by research.
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See Who's Already Signed the Pact
View the current list of families in our community who have joined the pact by clicking the button below.
