163
Princeton kids
have signed the pledge so far!
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About Delay the Smartphone
About Delay the Smartphone
The Delay the Smartphone pledge is organized by a group of Princeton parents who have noticed a huge surge of interest—and concern—from our friends and neighbors about smartphones, social media, and how we as parents approach the risks and opportunities of tech.
We sense the need to come together as a community to talk about ways to raise our kids in a society that is more and more phone-based, to create a space to share experiences, points of view, new research and data coming out, and also alternative devices that have tools we want but not the apps we don't want.
This page collects various bits of info and resources we've been accumulating, and may one day include timely updates about upcoming fun/informative gatherings.
You can reach us at delay.princeton@gmail.com.
If this issue is really important to you and you want to do outreach (to other parents, to PTOs, to the school board, etc.), party planning, or anything else, get in touch!!
If this issue is really important to you and you want to do outreach (to other parents, to PTOs, to the school board, etc.), party planning, or anything else, get in touch!!
Lots of great things to do, from super small and simple to bigger and splashier, and we'd love to share our resources with you.
Lots of great things to do, from super small and simple to bigger and splashier, and we'd love to share our resources with you.
If you haven't already...
And make sure to share with friends and your kids' classmates' parents 📧
(Click the tabs at the bottom to see totals as well as parents' names)
Watch the new PSA from Smartphone Free Childhood US
Watch the new PSA from Smartphone Free Childhood US
They're an awesome international org doing great work! Here's their US site.
Helpful Resources
Helpful Resources
Links to recent news and research, info about alternative devices, and more.
Links for alternative non-smartphone devices
Links for alternative non-smartphone devices
Wait Until 8th's list of non-smartphone devices
Tech expert Catherine Price's list of non-smartphone devices and how to choose
Expert Jean Twenge's "Basic Phones: A Guide for Parents"
Smartphone-Free Childhood US's comparison chart
Links to interesting recent articles
Links to interesting recent articles
March 31, 2026 NYT: "Is There Life After Smartphones?"
Jan. 16, 2026 NYT: "Jonathan Haidt Brings New Evidence to the Battle Against Social Media"
Dec. 1, 2025 NYT: "A Smartphone Before Age 12 Could Carry Health Risks, Study Says"
Sept. 5, 2025 Time Magazine: "One Community’s Experiment With a Phone-Free Childhood" (feat. NJ's own Balance Project!)
Sept. 6, 2025 NYT: "She Started the Debate About Kids and Phones. Now She Wants to End It."
August 4, 2025 Atlantic Mag: "What Kids Told Us About How to Get Them Off Their Phones"
March 13, 2024 Atlantic Mag: "End the Phone-Based Childhood Now"
Sept. 23, 2025 Wash. Post: "I tried to protect my kids from the internet. Here’s what happened."
Links to relevant books and Substacks
Links to relevant books and Substacks
Jonathan Haidt, "The Anxious Generation"
Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price, "The Amazing Generation" (for tweens!)
Jean Twenge, "10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World" (brand new)
After Babel Substack (also by Jonathan Haidt)
The Empty Cup Substack by the School of Radical Attention (for something slightly different than the above)
Links with tech tips, tricks, and parent education
Links with tech tips, tricks, and parent education
Almost Always Analog, A Mom's Brilliant Smartphone Letter to Her Daughter (free)
Digital Mom, parenting courses re tech and kids
Becky Kennedy and Jonathan Haidt, "Free the Anxious Generation Guide" (free)
Catherine Price, "10 Tips to Help Your Kid (and You) Break Up with Screens" (free)
Melanie Hempe, "How to Delay the Age at Which Kids Get Smartphones" (free)
Links to other orgs doing great work
Links to other orgs doing great work
Smartphone Free Childhood US (there are chapters all over the world too)
Wait Until 8th (inspiration for our pledge💫)
DelCo Unplugged (our neighbors in PA!)
More links about why delaying smartphones matters
More links about why delaying smartphones matters
Oct. 26, 2018(!) NYT: "A Dark Consensus About Screens and Kids Begins to Emerge in Silicon Valley"
Jan. 11, 2025 Guardian: "‘Each year you delay giving a phone is a big win’: child screen-time solutions from around the world"
July 21, 2025 CNN: "Smartphones aren't safe for kids under 13. Here's why"
Wait Until 8th, "Why Delay?"
And for the data nerds: Links to research and summaries
And for the data nerds: Links to research and summaries
NEW in September 2025: "Growing Up Online: Findings and Recommendations from the New Jersey Commission on the Effects of Social Media Usage on Adolescents" (recommending that school districts institute "a bell-to-bell ban on the use of cell phones and social media in school")
Tara C. Thiagarajan, "Protecting the Developing Mind in a Digital Age: A Global Policy Imperative" (July 2025 study finding that "receiving a smartphone before age 13 is associated with poorer mind health outcomes in young adulthood, particularly among females, including suicidal thoughts, detachment from reality, poorer emotional regulation, and diminished self-worth")
All collaborative review docs, mostly curated by Zach Rausch and Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan Haidt (NYU-Stern), Jean Twenge (San Diego State U), and Zach Rausch (NYU-Stern), "Adolescent mood disorders since 2010: A collaborative review"
Jonathan Haidt (NYU-Stern), Jean Twenge (San Diego State U), and Zach Rausch (NYU-Stern), "Social Media and Mental Health: A Collaborative Review"
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