Take the pledge! Your child’s mental health is worth the wait.
Buzz Off Social
Before They Scroll,
Let Them Grow.
Join the Buzz Off Social movement — no social media before age 16.
Newest Families Who Have Buzzed Off
The Bray Family
Creek Valley
Everson
Primrose
The Walker Family
Normandale
Vedder Family
South View Middle School
Fulmer Family
Normandale Elementary School
Lipschultz Schildcrout Family
Concord/South View
Wright
Concord Elementary
The Potter Family
Creek Valley
Johnson Family
Normandale
Engdahl Family
Future elc
Deeney Family
Highlands
Hibbs/Ulness
Creek Valley
Lovaas Family
VVMS and EHS
Our Mission
Our mission is to support each other in delaying social media use. We seek to educate ourselves and others about the benefits of waiting on social media use. We commit to promote healthy tech habits in our community and modeling good tech habits around our children.
Our goal is to share the commitment and pledge “rules” with our children while showing them the list of other families to let them know that we are holding ourselves accountable to each other. We are in this together. Kids won’t feel as isolated without access to social media platforms the more families we get to commit to this.
We’re a community of families choosing to delay social media use. Together, we educate, support, and model healthy tech habits for our kids and one another. We share this pledge openly so our children see we’re united and accountable. The more families who commit, the less alone kids will feel without social media—and the stronger our community becomes.
Our Reason
Much of our purpose in creating this pledge came from the book The Anxious Generation.
We encourage you to read or listen to the book for research-based insights into how social media affects the mental health of our children.
The Anxious Generation – Research & Evidence
ABCD Study on Screen Time & Mental Health
Summary: Our Big Takeaways
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Screen time disrupts sleep, relationships, and play-based childhood.
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Smartphones heighten risk for anxiety, depression, and suicide.
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Developmental, academic, and emotional skills are all being delayed by early and excessive digital exposure.
Key Points
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Social media use, especially at night or before bedtime, is linked to:
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Less sleep
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Poorer sleep quality
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Increased emotional distress
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Disrupted sleep contributes to higher anxiety and depression rates.
Supporting Research
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iGen by Jean Twenge found teens sleep about an hour less per night than teens before the smartphone era.
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Study: PMC6537508: Heavy social media use correlated with poor sleep and higher depressive symptoms.
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Key Points
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The magnitude of depressive symptoms increases sharply with more screen time:
• 3–5 hours daily: +26% (girls) / +21% (boys)
• 5+ hours daily: +50% (girls) / +35% (boys) -
Greater use also relates to online harassment, low self-esteem, and body dissatisfaction.
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Smartphones increase risk for both anxiety and depression — these rates have more than doubled in the past decade.
Supporting Research
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JAMA Network Study on Adolescents: Depression symptoms jumped 35% as average daily use rose from 7 to 73 minutes.
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Key Points
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The mere presence of a smartphone reduces focus and test performance.
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Nationwide standardized test scores and reading levels have declined since smartphone and social media adoption accelerated.
Supporting Research
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University of Chicago Study: Smartphones near students reduced cognitive capacity and working memory.
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iGen documented drops in academic engagement correlated with digital media use increases.
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Key Points
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Teens spend less time in-person with friends and family.
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Fewer are getting driver’s licenses or working part-time jobs — both key independence milestones.
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Reliance on screens limits emotional and verbal communication skills.
Supporting Research
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iGen findings: teens today meet adult milestones 2–3 years later than Gen X or Millennials.
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Higher social media use was linked to reduced face-to-face socialization.
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Key Points
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Teens spending 3+ hours daily on screens are 35% more likely to have at least one suicide risk factor:
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Persistent sadness
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Suicidal ideation or planning
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Suicide attempts
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Cyberbullying significantly raises suicidal and substance-use risks.
Supporting Research
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JAMA Study (Adolescents 11–12 years old):
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Cyberbullied kids were 2.6× more likely to report suicidal thoughts or attempts.
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2.3× more likely to try substances within a year.
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iGen: Digital use is directly correlated with higher suicide ideation among teens.
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Key Points
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More screen time in early childhood delays communication and problem-solving development.
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Children aged 24–36 months with higher screen exposure performed worse on milestone assessments years later.
Supporting Research
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PMC Study: Early Childhood Development: High screen time → lower milestone achievement.
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JAMA Pediatrics Study: Greater screen time at age 1 → delays at ages 2 & 4.
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Key Points
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42% of youth report exposure to online pornography;
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66% of those exposures were unwanted, often through online ads.
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Children face risks of cyberbullying, sextortion, and explicit material exposure.
Supporting Research
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Contact US
Lindsay Melander, Alissa Ochs, Taylor Ellingson and Tim O'Neill
Founders, Buzz Off Social
We’re a community of families choosing to delay social media use. Together, we educate, support, and model healthy tech habits for our kids and one another. We share this pledge openly so our children see we’re united and accountable. The more families who commit, the less alone kids will feel without social media—and the stronger our community becomes.