The research is in
40% of kids aged 8 to 12 are using social media. That’s right: 3rd grade through middle school.
Social media and smartphone use is driving a mental health crisis for kids and teens.
It encourages constant comparison and limits in-person communication, often leading to increased feelings of depression, anxiety, poor body image, and loneliness.
What we can do about it
Drive Change: Let’s advocate for tighter handheld device policies at our schools. These should be banned during school hours and school-sponsored activities. Period.
Be pragmatic: Let’s wait as long as possible on any type of phone. But if we must, let’s not lay the foundation for bad habits. Let’s instead give our kids featureless phones that offer zero social media access.
Now is the time for parents to act
Waiting for government to intervene or tech companies to change their ways may take years.
Let’s be the parents our kids need us to be.
Join the mission.
Stay up to date on our progress and how we can bring meaningful change to your school and parent community.
The Mission
SmarterPhone is dedicated to prioritizing our kids’ mental wellbeing. Our goal is to limit smartphone use among children and teens through high school to mitigate the proven harms of social media.
We work with schools and parent communities to shore up a common line of defense and reframe the current narrative around this technology away from the inevitable and toward practical, sustainable alternatives.