DUNMORE – Two Catholic schools in Lackawanna County are piloting a new program to empower parents to delay giving their children a smartphone until at least the end of eighth grade.
The “Wait Until 8th” program officially kicked off at Saint Mary of Mount Carmel School in Dunmore on March 6 and Our Lady of Peace School in Clarks Green on March 12.
As a part of each school’s kick-off, parents of students in pre-K through third grade were invited to attend a community panel discussion on the possible harm that smartphones can pose to young children.
Melissa Gregory, a parent and licensed professional counselor, said smartphone use amongst children can increase the risk for anxiety, depression, eating disorders, body image issues and addictions.
“The human brain isn’t fully developed until after 25, so the pre-frontal cortex isn’t yet developed. That is your decision-making skills,” Gregory said. “Your executive functioning comes from that. That is why it is so important to delay kids’ exposure to certain things, before they’re able to emotionally handle that information.”
Ten years old is now the average-age children get their first smartphone.
“Let your children be children. Let them go outside and play with each other. Let them go ride a bike,” Kristen Donohue, Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education/Superintendent of Schools, said.
As a mother of three children, Donohue knows first-hand the struggles parents face when their kids ask for a smartphone because many of their friends have one.
In unveiling the “Wait Until 8th” pledge, Donohue said parents – especially parents of young children – can rally together to delay giving children a smartphone until at least the end of eighth grade. She said banding together will help decrease the “pressure” to have a phone at an early age.
“If you band together and say, ‘we’re doing this together,’ that decision does get easier,” Donohue noted. “If we can make that shift, we will do a tremendous amount of good for generations to come.”
Panelists at each kick-off meeting included members of the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, Pennsylvania State Police, a pediatrician, psychologist, and pastor.
At the kickoff meeting at Saint Mary’s, Father David Cappelloni, pastor, Saints Anthony and Rocco Parish and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, discussed the moral implications of smartphone usage.
“Our primary relationship should be with God,” Father Cappelloni noted. However, as he held up a smartphone, he said that many young people believe, “this is God.”
Trooper Robert Urban, Public Information Officer for Pennsylvania State Police Troop R, played several videos for parents – including one that highlighted the dangers of location tracking – of which many people are unaware.
“Every single app that you use, whether it’s on your electronic device, tablet, or cell phone, has location services in them. You need to know, as a parent, to turn these off,” Trooper Urban explained.
Trooper Urban also touched on several other topics – including smartphones putting children at risk for cyber bullying and exposing them to sexual content.
After the initial kick-off meetings earlier this month, parents are being invited back for a second session in which they will be able to sign the “Wait Until 8th” pledge.
The second session at Our Lady of Peace School will be held April 9, and April 10 at Saint Mary of Mount Carmel School.
“Take this information and please share it,” Saint Mary of Mount Carmel principal Maryelizabeth Shattin said. “There was a lot of eye-opening information.”
Nationwide, nearly 100,000 parents have already taken the “Wait Until 8th” pledge, saying they recognize the distractions and dangers of smartphone usage for their children.
For more information on the pledge, visit waituntil8th.org.