- Feb 5, 2002
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‘Smart Families’ band together to delay kids’ digital use.
For many parents, the dangers and downsides of giving their children smartphones — the time wasted scrolling online, potential exposure to inappropriate content, and the anxiety and depression that can come from social-media addiction — are obvious.
What is far less obvious to many parents, in a society saturated with smartphone use among adults and children alike, is how to say “No” when their son or daughter asks for one.
One Catholic-founded Texas-based group is attempting to offer a solution: banding school parents together under a pledge to keep smartphones and social media out of their kids’ hands, based both on a Catholic vision of the human person as well as scientific evidence about the development of the young brain.
It’s hardly a wonder why parents who decide not to give their children personal, internet-connected devices feel like outliers.
A 2025 study by Common Sense Media (CSM) found that 1 in 4 children in the U.S. are given a smartphone by age 8. A different study surveyed 1,500 kids and found that two-thirds were given their first smartphone when they were 10 or younger.
Continued below.
www.ncregister.com
For many parents, the dangers and downsides of giving their children smartphones — the time wasted scrolling online, potential exposure to inappropriate content, and the anxiety and depression that can come from social-media addiction — are obvious.
What is far less obvious to many parents, in a society saturated with smartphone use among adults and children alike, is how to say “No” when their son or daughter asks for one.
One Catholic-founded Texas-based group is attempting to offer a solution: banding school parents together under a pledge to keep smartphones and social media out of their kids’ hands, based both on a Catholic vision of the human person as well as scientific evidence about the development of the young brain.
It’s hardly a wonder why parents who decide not to give their children personal, internet-connected devices feel like outliers.
A 2025 study by Common Sense Media (CSM) found that 1 in 4 children in the U.S. are given a smartphone by age 8. A different study surveyed 1,500 kids and found that two-thirds were given their first smartphone when they were 10 or younger.
Continued below.
Catholic Families Pledge to Hit the Brakes on Smartphones
‘Smart Families’ band together to delay kids’ digital use.
