Thousands of Canadian Parents Take Up Pledge to Delay Kids’ Smartphone Use

‘We empower parents to unite in the creation of a smartphone-free childhood,’ says Unplugged Canada.

A child using a smartphone, in a file photo. Peter Byrne/PA

Over 3,000 Canadian parents have signed a pledge to commit to delaying smartphone access for their children until the age of 14.

The pledge, created by Unplugged Canada, says the action is meant to provide families with a community that supports each other in its commitment to prioritizing children’s mental health. The volunteer-run organization based in Vancouver seeks to “educate parents about the risks of early smartphone use and inspire a collective commitment to restore childhood.”

“The whole point of this pledge is to remember what it was to have community,” Jenny Perez, founder of Unplugged Canada, told The Epoch Times. “We have become so self-sufficient, independent, isolated, and we’re doing that to ourselves, and we’re doing that now with our children.”

Perez says she was inspired to start the initiative by a similar one in the United States, called “Wait Until 8th,” which has more than 106,000 parent signatures. She officially launched Unplugged Canada in September 2024.

Perez, a mother and an entrepreneur, says she is passionate about the impact technology has on the minds of children and did not want to accept that the only way for her child to be connected to other children was via smartphone and social media.

The biggest challenge for parents, she said, is the concern that delaying smartphone use may isolate their children. She notes, however, that this can be resolved through the strong community that the pledge builds by connecting parents with other like-minded parents in their local area.

“It’s much easier when you know there are at least a few other parents, and you know your kid is not going to be the only one,” she said, adding that committing to the pledge is a “token of action” that can allow parents to feel empowered.

Perez says she is not against cellphones on the whole, but is focused on protecting the mental health of children, because “science backs it up that it’s more harmful than beneficial.”

“You can still provide a basic phone for calls and texts while adhering to the pledge, as these devices avoid many of the distractions and risks associated with smartphones,” Unplugged Canada says.

Cellphone Use in Classrooms

Schools across Canada have been implementing restrictions to smartphone use in classrooms over the past couple of years, with B.C., Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta putting province-wide restrictions in place. However, the specifics of how to implement those restrictions has remained up to schools to decide, which Perez says has led to inconsistencies across the board.

Last spring, Ontario introduced a comprehensive plan to reduce distractions in classrooms, including cellphone use.

“A 2023 UNESCO report found a negative link between excessive cellphone use and student academic performance and that students can take up to 20 minutes to refocus on what they were learning after focusing on a distraction,” the Ontario government said in an April 2024 news release.

Ontario parents have signed the most Unplugged Canada pledges, with 1,452 pledges, while B.C. has the second-most at 672 pledges, followed by Alberta with 371 pledges.

“Smartphones have become not just distracting but a direct gateway to harmful and addictive content, especially through social media,” Unplugged Canada says. “Yet their widespread use among children and teens has been normalized and continues to rise.”

Impacts of Smartphones, Social Media on Youth

An April 15 report from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute titled “Wired for Worry: How smartphones and social media are harming Canadian youth,” examines the link between declining youth mental health and the widespread use of smartphones and social media, as well as the measures adopted by some governments to reduce social media’s negative impact on youth.

The report cites a theory developed by psychologist Jonathan Haidt suggesting that smartphones and social media harm the mental health of youth by limiting their in-person social interactions.

“The leading theory ... is that the introduction of smartphones and social media have created a developmental environment where youth spend less time in person with friends and family and more time online,” the report says.

The report adds that “indicators of declining youth mental health began to appear in the early 2010s, just as smartphone and social media usage became ubiquitous” with significant increases in depression, anxiety, and self-harm among youth.

“Time spent on social media now often replaces in-person interaction, exposes users to damaging content, and leads some to interpret normal distress as mental health symptoms,” the report reads.

Treatment for mental health conditions among youth in North America has increased over the last decade, matched by a “steep rise” in the use of smartphones

A 2020 study by the Canadian Medical Association Journal indicates that “high proportions” of youth engage smartphone use heavily, leading to negative impacts on cognitive control, academic performance, socioemotional functioning, as well as increased mental distress, self-injury behaviour, and suicide.

Call to Action

Besides the pledge, Unplugged Canada has launched a “Call to Action“ campaign, which calls on the federal government to prioritize the protection of children’s mental health by raising the age of social media access to 16 years old, and require strong age verification to access social media platforms and explicit content.

The Call to Action, which has gathered over 900 signatures to date, aims to push for a change in legislation.

The campaign also calls on the government to “expand public education awareness on the impacts of smartphones, social media and digital addiction in schools and communities.”

According to Unplugged Canada, Australia and Norway have raised the minimum age for social media access and are enforcing age verification, while France, the U.K., and Germany require strict age verification for explicit content.

Carolina Avendano contributed to this report.