Parent Pact
A place for Charlotte parents to band together to keep our children off social media.
Welcome Charlotte Parents!
We hope you join our commitment to keep our kids off social media and smartphones to enjoy childhood in real life. Please sign our pact to commit to saying ‘no’ to social media until graduation. We aim to hold off on phones as long as possible, and have some suggestions of great ‘dumb phones’ out there with just call, text, and GPS capability. Let’s stick together to keep our kids offline and prevent ostracization and peer pressure to get on social media!
Did you know…
That research has shown a correlation between high levels of social media use among children and adolescents and negative effects such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, poor body image, disordered behaviors, and online harassment?
Why Sign The Pact?
With the ease of access to information comes the negative impacts of social media.
Increase in anxiety
Studies have linked even one hour a day spent staring at a smartphone screen with a significant rise in anxiety and depression among children.
Trouble Focusing
The repeated dopamine hits from the fast-paced entertainment of a smartphone are hard for the real world to match, making it more difficult to pay attention in school and engage in in-person interactions. Studies show kids who spend more than 2 hours a day on screens score lower on thinking and language tests.
Suicide Risk
In the 2010’s, emergency room visits for self-harm for 10-14 year old girls tripled. Suicide rates in this same group have also tripled in the last 15 years.
Sexual content
One study of 1500 youth internet users aged 10-17 found that 42% had been exposed to online pornography in the last year.
Eating Disorders
Studies show a correlation between social media use and eating disorders due to filtered and edited photos and content promoting things like purging techniques and unhealthy extreme diets.
Cyberbullying
Half of US teens have been bullied or harassed online. Children who receive smartphones in elementary school are more likely to be involved in cyberbullying.
Depression
Research shows the more time someone spends on social media, the more likely they are to be depressed.
Digital Footprint
Kids can put images or comments online that can do permanent damage to their reputation. Kids lack the maturity to understand the repercussions of the words and images they post online.
Damaged Eyesight
Studies show that smart phone usage in children causes myopia, poor vision, blurred vision damages eye sight. A Chinese study showed a 4x increase in short-sightedness in 6-year-olds as a result of going to screen-based learning during the COVID lockdowns.
Disinterested in Real Life
Smartphone use by children has been associated with a drop in children’s curiosity about the world around them, and an increase in the amount of bad behavior like bullying, short attention spans, and low performance at school.
Why We Must Stick Together
87% of kids feel inferior if they don’t own a smartphone and perceive all their friends do. If we stick together to keep our kids off social media and smart phones, we can give our kids a better childhood.
Smart kids,
dumb phones
As parents, we all want what’s best for our children, including their mental and emotional well-being. By choosing not to provide smartphones to our children, we can mitigate these risks and prioritize their mental health and happiness. The Parent Pact lets us encourage more enriching activities that foster personal growth and well-being.
Resources
Utilize these resources to research the implications associated with social media and smart phone access among children.
Nature Scientific Article
Screen time, impulsivity, neuropsychological functions and their relationship to growth in adolescent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms.
The Wall Street Journal
Teen Boys Are Falling for a Snapchat
Nude-Photo Scam. Here’s How to Avoid It. The solicitation of images has evolved in recent years to include monetary shakedowns.
The Morning Brew Podcast
Are phones to blame for the mental health epidemic? A new book has sparked a debate over something you may remember from Intro to Psychology: correlation vs. causation.
Good Inside with Dr. Becky
The Anxious Generation. Social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, joins Dr. Becky to give parents hope that we can end phone-based childhood and restore a more humane one.
Sign the pact
If you would like to commit to say ‘no’ to social media until high school graduation, please sign our pact!
We understand every family is different, and encourage you to add in the comments how your family plans to approach phones.
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