The Harvard Parent Teacher Organization, in partnership with the Harvard Family Association and other community organizations, hosted more than 100 participants at its community-wide event held at the Hildreth Elementary School on Tuesday, April 8, in the gymnasium. The two-hour forum included a panel discussion, breakout groups, and interactive planning inspired by Jonathan Haidt’s book “The Anxious Generation,” which addresses the mounting challenges of parenting in the digital age.
From the outset, organizers were hopeful but modest in their expectations for attendance. “I remember saying, ‘I’ll just be happy if 20 people come,’” said Suzie Allen, a School Committee member who said she took off that particular hat and helped to organize and emcee the event in her role as a parent of Bromfield students in grades 7 and 9. “But the excitement grew, and over 127 people registered. Every group we reached out to including the schools, the library, the Harvard Schools Trust, Alphabest (child care providers at Hildreth), and the Little Bee [bookshop in Ayer] said yes immediately.”
The evening began with an introduction from Allen, who is a pediatric nurse practitioner at UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center Division of Adolescent Medicine. “I drew from my clinical experience to highlight the real-world impact of technology on kids’ mental health,” she said. “In my practice, I see the internet as sort of a highway to eating disorders for so many kids. I encourage my patients to ask a human, don’t ask ChatGPT or Google, if you have a personal question.” She used that anecdote to introduce the live Q&A with the panel of educators, professionals, and students. “I told them, we have this panel of amazing humans, so let’s ask them.”
With interactions from the audience, the panel provided multiple viewpoints on the same subjects, such as ‘free play.’ Teachers, administrators, parents, and students expressed their desire to bring back unstructured, unsupervised play, even for older children.
Once the panel portion of the evening was complete, attendees broke up into small groups organized by grade levels, with a separate group for teachers, to discuss the themes introduced by Haidt’s book and come up with clear, actionable goals for the community. There was a scribe for each group who took notes, and results from each breakout were shared live at the end of the event.
Many common suggestions emerged, including making collective pledges as a community to “Wait Until 8th,” an initiative to keep smartphones from kids until they reach the end of eighth grade, tech-free sleepovers, and no social media until a set age (with the consensus being age 16). In addition to pledges, groups discussed hosting community education events, modeling tech limits at home, providing free-play opportunities, and working with the schools to obtain “phone lockers” to keep devices out of the classroom.
The Wait Until 8th pledge is a national initiative. “That feels like the bare minimum,” said Nicole Holub, of the HFA. “But there’s a lot of excitement around making that a shared community goal.” For the national organization to support a community with educational and promotional materials, 10 students in a grade must register their pledge online at the nonprofit’s website, waituntil8th.org. At the time of printing, the kindergarten class at Hildreth Elementary School had reached that goal.
“There’s real momentum here,” said Allen, referring to the densely populated spreadsheet she had with the ideas and outcomes shared by each group. “This isn’t a one-and-done conversation. Technology evolves quickly, and so must we. But what’s clear is that people are ready to act together.”
“One of the main reasons we moved to Harvard was to build community,” said Allison Barros, a member of the HFA and one of the event organizers. “This helped us see how many families are motivated to engage around this topic. They just need support.”
“I was excited to see how many people voiced interest in free play,” said Barbara Romero, a member of the PTO and another event organizer. “That gave me a lot of hope.”
Next steps, according to Allen, include conducting a follow-up survey that will ask attendees what drew them to the event, what actions they’ve already taken, and what commitments they’d like to make going forward. She hopes the feedback will help the event organizers determine whether a new structure is needed to maintain momentum, such as an advisory board or an entirely new community group, or if existing organizations like the Parent Teacher Organization or Harvard Family Association can take the lead.
