EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — More than 600 children in East Grand Rapids are represented in a pledge to delay smartphones until high school and social media until age 16, as local parents take their own approach to protecting kids from technology's potential harms.
What started with one fourth-grade class at one school has spread across all three East Grand Rapids elementary schools, with parents signing on behalf of their families through an initiative called 'It Takes a Village EGR.'
"Parents were so excited about it. They were coming up to us and saying, 'This is what keeps me up at night. Thank you so much for doing this,'" said Karin Hoekstra, an East Grand Rapids mom who helped start the initiative.
The Movement's Origins
About two and a half years ago, East Grand Rapids mom Laura Feinauer attended a district technology event about kids and technology. She came away feeling overwhelmed by stories from her own district.
"It almost felt like even if my family chose to delay technology for my kids, that it was a freight train sort of coming at us," Feinauer said.
Feinauer teamed up with other parents to organize an open house for parents in their children's fourth-grade class. They weren't sure anyone would join them.
"Maybe it's going to be 10 kids, maybe we will get laughed at, I have no idea," Hoekstra said.
Instead, the response was overwhelmingly positive, and the pledge snowballed from grade to grade across all three elementary schools.
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Expert Perspective
Brittani Hyde, clinical services manager of pediatric partial programs at Pine Rest, says the initiative addresses serious concerns she's seeing in young patients.
"The things that we're seeing in today's world with the kids, it's just, it's things that we've never seen before," Hyde said. "We have had so many cases come in to inpatient or just the partial programs, and the way that they got here was a route that they got themselves into on social media."
Hyde pointed to certain platforms where children can quickly be pulled into dangerous situations through private chat rooms and targeted content.
"We've had kids up here who have Instagram accounts at a really young age, and they meet up with somebody after just an initial message was sent," Hyde said.
She says delaying access gives parents more time to teach kids how to recognize risky situations online, though she notes there's no magic age when every child is ready.
Real-World Focus
The parents decided to face technology pressure as a group while figuring out what kids would do with their extra time instead.
"We don't want them to feel like this is punishment for them. We live in this amazing community where they can ride their bikes to Gaslight Village, and you know, get together with their friends or go fishing," Hoekstra said.
For Lucy Frey, whose kids are eight and six, the focus is on fostering creativity and independence.
"One of the most important things for our family at least, the value of boredom and the importance of boredom and the cool things, the creative things that can come from that," Frey said.
The group also organizes events like bowling and roller skating for kids.
Community Impact
Hyde says having a large group participate makes a significant difference compared to individual families trying to delay technology alone.
"This is such a powerful move, and, yeah, I'm so excited it's happening right here," Hyde said. "Our kids will be okay. They will learn."
For Feinauer, one of the biggest tests of waiting has already arrived successfully.
"My son's in seventh grade now, and he's never asked for a phone," she said. "A big part of it is because their friends don't, as a part of this pledge."
The pledge isn't binding — parents ultimately make the decision that's right for their family. But for those choosing to wait, the idea is simple: their kid doesn't have to be the only one.
Looking Ahead
The organizers say the pledge may only be the beginning. Their next hope is completely phone-free school experiences as their kids get older.
"We'd really like to see our schools be completely phone free," Hoekstra said. "That's just an extension of what we see on this path."
For more information on the organization, you can visit https://takesavillageegr.com/
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
