A group of concerned parents in Plainview has banded together to fight against children using smartphones and social media on an everyday basis.
“We’re currently a grassroots group of local parents who are banding together to restore childhood,” said Jill Seplowitz, the founder of Champions for Children, a local organization dedicated to improving the well-being of kids.
Seplowitz said the organization’s goal is to create long-term stability and give every child the chance to succeed, even if that means doing so without a smartphone.
Seplowitz said the idea for the organization began after she had read a book highlighting how technology and cellphones have found their way into everyday childhood. She said she spoke with school administrators and other parents who agreed that delaying smartphones and social media would benefit childhood development.
“Parents and kids don’t actually want kids to have smartphones. They just don’t know another option exists,” she said.
The organization started in April with its first official event and it hosted a group of presenters on Monday, Nov. 10, to discuss the impacts of smartphones on children. Seplowitz said many parents had great questions and that it was an energetic night.
“It’s hard to do something that feels countercultural when you think you’re the only one,” Seplowitz said.
The organization advocates that smartphones have shortened attention spans in children and prevent them from enjoying nature and the outdoors.
“The world is not a more dangerous place than it was when kids played outside until dark. It’s actually safer. We need to reverse the peer pressure and create positive peer pressure,” she said about getting kids to participate in activities and play outside rather than be on their phones.
According to a 2022 study from the National Library of Medicine, respondents said they were given their first phone at roughly 12 years old. Seplowitz said she has two young children and that they are approaching the age where giving them a cellphone becomes a real possibility, something she said she will look to put off until she feels comfortable.
Seplowitz will be speaking about what Champions for Children fights for on a free Let Grow webinar on Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m.
