The campaign aims to empower parents and caregivers to resist smartphones for children, a game-changer against peer pressure, the founder declares.
The "Wait Until 8th" pledge has already gathered more than 45,000 signatures across the United States, expressing their commitment to hold off on giving their children a smartphone until they reach the eighth grade.
Indiana-based mom Carley Hower, who has four children aged eleven, nine, six and four explained that she took the pledge along with her friends with the thought that keeping her kids away from smartphones will protect them against cyberbullying.
"As parents, we would do anything to protect our kids. This is just another way to protect our children," she stressed.
Taking the pledge was seriously important for her and his husband after knowing from a friend, who is a first responder, that the latter has received numerous calls "when 12-year-old kids have committed suicide, often the result of cyberbullying, among other issues."
Parents Helping Parents
Born in 2017, the "Wait Until 8th" pledge started following a group of elementary school parents from Austin, Texas, who admitted to the pressure of giving their young kids smartphones.
Wait Until 8th executive director and founder Brooke Shannon shared to Fox News Digital that they started noticing kids in the first and second grade attending school, playdates and birthday parties with the latest smartphones, and started questioning themselves and each other if their little ones really need this technology.
They found out eventually that many parents "caved." They bought smartphones for their children simply because "everyone had them" and their kids were feeling left out.
"Many of my friends said they wanted to wait as long as they could but knew it would be an uphill battle. Out of this dialogue came the idea to rally together as a community by starting a pledge... (empowering) parents to rally together to delay giving children a smartphone until at least eighth grade (and) create a support network for those parents who would like to wait on giving their child a (smart)phone," Shannon explained.
Why the Need To Wait?
When asked why parents need the strength and the community to not cave in to the smartphone-dominated society this generation has and take the pledge, the organization pointed to a long list of reasons, starting with highlighting the fact that Silicon Valley executives say no to smartphones until their kids reach at least 14 years old.
According to the Telegraph, Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook CEO, does not give his children smartphones with the motivation of wanting them to 'stop and smell the flowers' rather than spend all their time on the screen and the internet, which for parents from "Wait Until 8th" seems so ironic.
Here are the other reasons that join the long list.
1. Smartphones are changing childhood.
Children are now canceling out playing outdoors, reading books and hanging out with family and friends just so they can spend most of their time with their smartphones and social media.
2. Smartphones are addictive.
According to new research, dependence on smartphones can produce the same addictive brain responses that alcohol, drug and gambling addictions do.
3. Smartphones are an academic distraction
The National Institute of Health's landmark study on brain development stated that kids who spent more than two hours of screen time a day got lower scores on thinking and language tests, while another research from the University of Texas suggested that the "mere presence" of smartphones lessens cognitive capacity and test-taking brainpower.
4. Smartphones interfere with relationships
Many parents have testified how smartphones can be destructive to relationships. Parent-children relationships suffer as much as face to face interactions, communication and relationships dwindle.
5. Smartphones put your child at risk for cyber bullying
Data showed that 25 percent of children have experienced cyberbullying and at least 17 percent have done it to others. Further, only one out of 10 victims would inform their parents or trusted adult about the abuse they experience.
6. Smartphones expose children to sexual content
A study revealed that 42 percent of online teen users have been exposed to online pornography, and 66 percent of these teens are exposed to unwanted pornography because of online ads. More dangerous though are the various apps that give sexual predators opportunities to "track, groom and harm our children."
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