What started as a Facebook group of Scarborough parents concerned about the use of smartphones and technology in their children’s lives is slowly blossoming into something bigger, and organizers hope to expand their reach.
The Scarborough Wait Until 8th group has organized discussions of the new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt at the public library on June 4 and June 12.
“The book talks a lot about a phone-based childhood versus a play-based childhood,” said Kristen Verrico, a member of the group. It highlights the need for children to have social interactions and to make in-person connections for good mental health.
Only one book discussion was initially planned, but the second date was added when the first quickly maxed out at 40 attendees.
“In three days it was full,” said group member Jamie Andrew, and the second one is already more than half full.
Kate Brophy co-founded the local Wait Until 8th group during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a nationwide movement that encourages parents to hold off supplying their children with smartphones until the kids are in eighth grade. According to Common Sense Media, 42% of kids nationwide have a phone by age 10, 71% by age 12, and 91% by age 14.
“We figured we’d piggyback off of that to start,” Brophy said.
“The Anxious Generation” will be the subject of discussions at Scarborough Public Library June 4 and June 12. Contributed
As COVID waned and schools transitioned back to in-person learning from remote, the local movement “died down,” Brophy said, but it started picking up steam again when Andrew came across “The Anxious Generation,” which came out in March. She and other group members quickly related to its message.
When they saw the outpouring of interest in discussing the book, Andrew, Brophy and Verrico met in person to discuss “how to harness” the momentum. Part of that will likely include continuing to spread awareness of the Wait Until 8th movement, such as having Wait Until 8th parent ambassadors at schools in the district, but ideally, they said, it will go further than that.
“I think (the library events) can be a fun kickoff, to be in a group with like-minded people,” Brophy said. “From there, we’re just hoping it grows and grows and we just keep building on this community.”
The group would like to instill more of the sense of “It takes a village to raise a child” in town. That mentality is prevalent in other countries, such as Japan, Andrew said.
“Kids just go out and play because adults are all looking out for the kids,” Andrew said. “That’s just not the culture in the U.S., generally, but it would make me so happy if we could have more of that here, and it feels like it’s within reach.”
Creating a network of trusted adults and parents is a starting point, Andrew said. For instance, she lives near some of the town’s schools and could offer parents some peace of mind if they knew she would be available for their children if they couldn’t be reached in an emergency. Parents could tell their kids, “‘If you need something and you can’t reach me, you can go to her house,'” Andrew said.
“It’s just knowing that people around will help,” she said.
For now, the group of parents is focused on ensuring their children have a childhood away from a small, rectangular screen and they’re looking forward to the June discussions at the library.
“I just think about all the stuff I went through without (a smartphone) and how different that is when you’re going through real crucial development years,” Andrew said. “Your brain is forming into your 20s, so everything you’re doing is forming your identity for the rest of your life and the way you feel about everything. It feels important.”
For more information on the Wait Until 8th initiative and to make the pledge, go to waituntil8th.org.
“You pledge and then every September you get an email,” Verrico explained. The email tells you how many families in your child’s grade have also pledged. “When your child says to you, ‘Everybody else has a phone,’ it’s a nice tool for parents.”
For more information and to register for the upcoming library events, go to the Events page at scarboroughlibrary.org.
Andrew, Brophy and Verrico also invite parents to join the Facebook group, “Scarborough Wait Until 8th.”
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