Ten young Marblehead families, with a combined 26 kids, have joined together to delay giving their children smartphones at least through eighth grade. They’ve re-installed home phones so their kids can talk to friends and make plans.
“This is a choice for our families, and the science backs it up,” said mom Leah Quested, who has three kids, ages 10, 8 and 2. “But it only works if you have a group of families doing it with you.”
Quested and fellow moms Jessica Murphy and Katie Melanson are part of a nationwide movement of parents signing the Wait Until 8th pledge. So far, more than 106,000 people have signed, including at least 10 parents from Village School.
The pledge reads: “I promise not to give my child a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade as long as at least 10 families total from my child’s grade and school pledge to delay the smartphone.”
The Wait Until 8th website explains its mission this way: “Let’s protect the elementary and middle school years from the distractions and the dangers of a smartphone. Banding together helps decrease the pressure to have a phone at an early age. Ten years old is the average age children get their first smartphone.”
The site has links to research about the damaging impact of smartphones on kids, including studies that show how smartphones can:
- Be addictive
- Distract from schoolwork
- Impair sleep
- Increase the risk for anxiety, depression, eating disorders and cyber bullying
- Impact kids’ behavior in a negative way
“We grew up in a generation without cell phones so we can speak to how much more fun we had as kids,” Melanson said. “We’re bringing a little of that back. It’s nostalgic.”
Fourth-grader Ronan Murphy, 10, is part of the no-phone group.
“Sometimes it bothers me that everyone else has cell phones,” he said about his peers at Village School. “But I think it’s better not to have one. I play with my friends in my backyard. Kids with cell phones are always on them; they’re always on social media.”
Ten-year-old Gabriel Poitevan says he doesn’t feel like he’s missing out on a lot by not having a phone.
“You can do so much more,” he said. “You can play way more stuff” by not being addicted to phones.
Second-grader Anna Melanson says she doesn’t want to get a phone.
“I enjoy reading instead,” she said. “And I call my friends on the home phone.”
The moms described how creative their kids can be because they’re not glued to screens.
Last summer, their daughters started their own gymnastics camp at Fort Sewall, opened lemonade stands and hosted movie days.
“They go for walks, they ride their bikes, they play tag, they play ball on Baldy’s Green at Gas House Beach,” Melanson said.
Local family physician Dr. Amanda Ritvo, who is running for the Board of Health, is a big proponent of the Wait Until 8th campaign.
“By joining together as a community to delay smartphone use, we relieve pressure on individual families, foster healthier peer dynamics and create space for real connection and play. This isn’t about rejecting technology — it’s about supporting kids’ well-being during their most formative years,” Ritvo said.
She added, “Families looking to build healthy screen habits can start with the AAP’s Family Media Plan, which offers practical tips and guidance for children of all ages, starting from birth.”
You can find the AAP’s plan at healthychildren.org/English/fmp/Pages/MediaPlan.aspx.
BoH candidate Kim Crowley said, if elected, she would “offer the guidance and support the benefits of waiting until eighth grade for a smartphone. This could delay some of the negative exposure and overuse of cell phones, and the more parents that commit to this type of movement, the less we would need to worry about the bullying aspect.”
If you’re anxious about your child being out without a smartphone, Wait Until 8th lists alternatives like a basic phone or smartwatch. (Learn more about those options at waituntil8th.org/devices.)
Quested, Murphy and Melanson emphasize that parents have to decide what works best for their own families, and this has been their choice.
Learn more about the issue of kids and smartphones — and the Wait Until 8th pledge — at waituntil8th.org.
Editor Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist.
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