Campaigns, research, and the Screen Time Action Network, working to free childhood from Big Tech's harms.
The books, websites, articles, and events that come up again and again at our gatherings. We keep this list short on purpose: everything here is something we've actually read, used, and would hand to a neighbor.
We favor work grounded in research, and we say so when something is one perspective among several rather than settled science.
Ideas a busy household can actually use, without assuming any particular family circumstance, schedule, or budget.
Nothing on this list shames families for the choices they've already made. We're all figuring this out as we go.
From Schools Beyond Screens, a national coalition of parents and educators. It's theirs, kept current by their team, and a strong first stop.
Groups doing wonderful work in this space. Rather than repeat what they do well, we point families their way.
Campaigns, research, and the Screen Time Action Network, working to free childhood from Big Tech's harms.
Model legislation and weekly advocacy calls on phones, social media, and school technology.
Evidence-based classroom-tech advocacy, with a deep resource library.
Helps families delay smartphones and organize locally, with a parent-group locator.
The nonprofit behind The Social Dilemma, on how persuasive design competes for our attention.
Digital-wellness tools for educators, including the EdTech Triangle for deciding when classroom tech helps.
Free tools to help middle schools keep phones away during the school day.
Resources and a national community for families pursuing phone-free school days.
A campaign for a clear opt-out from 1:1 school-issued devices, with supporting research.
The research hub of the psychologist whose work shapes much of this field.
Max Stossel's organization: talks and guidance for schools and families on social media.
Longer reads for when you want the full picture, from child development to how persuasive design works.
Ten practical, evidence-grounded family rules, from delaying social media to phone-free bedrooms and dinners.
A companion handbook for tweens themselves, turning the research into encouraging, practical guidance.
The book that brought this conversation mainstream: a play-based childhood giving way to a phone-based one. (Causal strength debated.)
A neuroscientist on why classroom tech so often undermines learning, with practical steps for families and schools.
From the author of Hunt, Gather, Parent: a five-step approach to easing screens' pull on kids' attention and mood.
A Stanford psychiatrist on how constant digital stimulation reshapes the brain's reward system, and how to find balance.
Shorter reads and studies we cite often. Some links may sit behind a paywall.
Across experiments, simply having a phone nearby, even powered off, left people with less available attention.
In a large national sample, heavier screen time was associated with higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide-related outcomes.
In Norwegian middle schools with strict phone bans, girls had fewer specialist mental-health visits and students reported less bullying. (Working paper.)
An accessible argument that school-issued devices are crowding out real learning.
How much of the school day adolescents actually spend on their phones.
What school phone policies look like in practice, and how well they are working.
How much teachers see phones disrupting the classroom.
Students using an AI assistant to write essays showed weaker neural engagement. (Preprint, small sample.)
Meta's own internal studies on social media and youth mental health, in plain language, drawn from whistleblower and legal disclosures.
The apps and EdTech used in schools, and how they handle student data privacy.
Conversations worth a commute or a dog walk, the shows and episodes that come up at our gatherings.
Recommendations coming soon. Have a show you keep sharing? Tell us.
There are wonderful organizations near us hosting talks, screenings, and workshops for families. We share the ones we think are worth your evening; these events are theirs, not ours, and we're glad to point you to them.
Details coming soon. We'll add event listings here as the fall calendar comes together.
If a book, article, or other resource inspired you or changed how you think about tech, we'd love to hear about it.