A growing movement of parents is taking extreme measures to eliminate screens from their children's lives, citing the grave threat social media poses to their well-being. From relocating to screen-free schools to installing landlines and locking away iPads, these families are pushing back against the digital age.
The Screen-Free Household
Laura Derrendinger's 16-year-old son uses a rotary phone, relies on paper maps while driving, and spends his spare time as a junior firefighter. Raised in a screen-free home, he has no iPhone or social media but is allowed to use an electric chainsaw under supervision. 'It is safer to give my kids a chainsaw than access to social media. A chainsaw is not designed to be addictive,' Derrendinger said. Her children run a maple syrup operation, keep chickens and goats, and share a landline. Derrendinger, a public health expert and member of Smartphone Free Childhood US, has moved her family ten times due to screen concerns.
She compares screens to disease vectors: 'The research tells us these screens effectively function like vectors of disease, the way a mosquito carries the pathogen of malaria.' She calls smartphones 'a mini addictive surveillance device.'
Relocating for Education
Ashley Dickson moved her family from Boston to Virginia so her three boys could attend a private Waldorf school with a screen-free approach. 'I really just didn't see any benefit to introducing screens,' she said. Instead of using screens for quiet time, she gave her children books and Cheerios to self-entertain. The benefits have been huge: her kids are great at coming up with their own games and need little entertainment on long road trips.
Dickson was shocked by the amount of screen use in public school kindergartens and during the pandemic. After homeschooling and an unsatisfactory return to public school, she found a school that emphasizes imagination, creativity, and nature-based play. The family sometimes watches a movie together on Fridays, but otherwise maintains a low-tech environment.
Digital Detox and Addiction
Victoria Price, a single mom of five from Jacksonville, Florida, dramatically reduced her children's screen time after noticing they were 'addicts.' Her kids, ages 15, 12, and 7-year-old twins, were allowed unlimited access to iPhones, iPads, and TV, leading to sleepiness in school and crankiness. Price realized her own phone addiction was influencing her children. 'They see me on my phone all the time; they picked up the habit from watching me,' she said.
Now, her kids only have devices for a couple of hours on weekends. The first few weeks were hard, with tears and questions about her parenting. But after a month, she noticed her kids reading, drawing, and talking more. 'The energy of our home just felt calmer, and we feel more connected now,' she said.
Expert Insights
Sleep expert Rachel Mitchell warns that screens suppress melatonin and increase cortisol, harming sleep quality for all ages. She discourages screen use for children under 2, noting that many parents are unaware of the effects.
Legislative and Grassroots Efforts
Emily Boddy, co-lead of Smartphone Free Childhood US, has helped pass phone-free school laws in a dozen states. She hopes delaying smartphones becomes the norm. 'I know we're not going back to 1990, but there's space for parents to embrace simple phones that get the internet out of kids' pockets,' she said.
Virginia mom Emily Harrison, a member of Fairplay's Screen Time Action Network, helped pass a bill limiting schools' use of social media for communication. Fairplay also campaigns against exploitative practices by Big Tech, including a recent call to investigate Roblox. Harrison believes that as more kids play outside instead of on screens, it benefits everyone.
