Yarmouth Slow Tech
is a social movement powered by collective action in service to mutual wellbeing and human connection.
Mission & Vision
We’e founded on the growing data that shows children and teens’ developing brains and bodies are frequently harmed by what we’ve collectively accepted as normal technology use–until now.
We believe we can be each other’s answer to the overwhelm.
Yarmouth Slow Tech is a grassroots movement promoting informed and intentional use of technology; progressive independence for kids and teens; and real-world social experiences to cultivate youth mental wellness through community support and collective action. YST offers education, conversation, and play opportunities (for both youth and adults) to foster prosocial behavior; sharing a vision of community where families flourish, technology supports human connection, and people of all ages know they matter: right here, right now, as they are.
Yarmouth, Maine
Our mission
is to combat the youth mental health crisis by empowering Yarmouth citizens to consider our relationships to technology, ourselves and each other; to provide the resources, discussions and community needed to make informed, deliberate choices about the presence of tech in our daily lives; and to prioritize free play, socialization and progressive independence for kids and teens; fostering the durable relationships and habits of mind that help families flourish.
Our vision
is to be a model for prosocial behavior in a community that has the resources children, teens, and adults need to create healthy, fulfilling, and socially integrated lives;
a community where technology plays a supporting role to human connection;
a community where all people know that they matter right here, right now, as they are.
~
(this is a living document)
If you‘re writing a similar Mission & Vision statement, we‘re happy to share the questions we used to hone language and objectives before beginning a three-month draft and review process-–a process that‘s been helpful in surfacing valuable insights, conversations and connections. While we‘ve given permission to mission-aligned organizations to adapt portions of our work for their own purposes, we appreciate being in touch if you‘d like to do the same: chelsea@yarmouthslowtech.org
Thank you!
keeping heads up since 2024
New eras ask for new questions.
And we’re making space for conversation. Starting with:
What conditions do kids, teens, adults–and even communities–
need to thrive in the Digital Age?
3 ideas worth exploring
Techquilibrium & New Norms
Tech is here to stay; that’s not to say current habits should.
We’re interested in:
Reassessing our habits and use of technology to ensure that tech serves us, not the other way around; informing ourselves ; preparing, educating, and sometimes safeguarding kids and teens during vulnerable periods of brain, body, and social development; essentially a more scaffolded, informed and intentional oboard to the internet for young people. Also: Understanding more about the upsides of (intentional) tech use for kids, teens and families.
Potentially:
Delaying smartphones until high school (or beyond), waiting to use social media until age 16 (or later), supporting smartphone-free schools, shifting social norms around when/how phones are used when other people are present; reflecting on our own tech habits and how they intersect with our values--and changing as necessary; considering new tech and smartphone alternatives; asking legislators to hold tech companies to higher standards; and more.
Play-based
Childhood
What we know:
Kids need play, risk, responsibility & independence for healthy growth.
We’re interested in:
Giving kids more opportunities for all of these things; building adult confidence in kids’ autonomy; creating more spaces/scenarios that are supportive for teens too; investigating the opportunity costs of current screen use, filling gaps in social learning opportunities and socializing these ideas. Making more room for things like boredom, daydreaming, free play, exploration and risk--which Nature is great at providing.
Potentially:
Changing norms around the age at which kids do things such as bake, bike alone, make purchases in a store, learn to whittle, adventure with their friends, pet sit,etc; educating the public about real risks and even laws; creating more experiences and spaces that kids and teens are welcome in without (necessarily) spending money, expanding play opportunities outdoors; asking good questions about what’s possible with the resources we already have--used in novel ways. What DO we want childhood, teenage years, parenting--LIFE--to be about?
Real-World Relief, Fun, Responsibility
& Connection
Otherwise known as:
LIFE, enlarged
We’re interested in:
How an individual’s changes make changes more possible for others, how collective actions lower pressures and barriers while enhancing community. How people come to know that they matter and belong.
Potentially:
Developing digital agency: Using tech to free our time, not drain it; resource sharing and offering more opportunities for education, support, and socialization--plus new ways of being--that take pressures off kids and teens as well as adults, allowing them to find their own sense of play too.; modeling friendship and how to treat strangers as future friends, what the real world and real social networks have to offer. Being open and reflective about what we discover along the way.
And when tech is necessary in another’s presence: Narrate, explain the why, and repair as needed. We’re all human.
a further question:
Changing behaviors, holding boundaries and stepping outside of comfort zones are hard things to do. . .
What can we offer along the way to make these things easier, more attractive, and more sustainable for more people?
HAPPENINGS
FALL EVENTS
WAIT UNTIL 8th* GATHERINGS - by class year - ONGOING!
Families who have signed the Wait Until 8th Pledge are on the class ambassadors’ invite list for events, but you’re also welcome to reach out to an ambassador if you’d like to host! Hosting can be as simple as putting out a date and time to rendezvous in the park for all-ages free-play or putting on a potluck at your home (adults-only is also an option!) Each class year might do it a bit differently, gather by school, or with the full mixed-age group!
*If you’re pledge-curious or are delaying smartphone use until completing 8th grade and would like to socialize with other families committed to the same, please feel free to reach out to your class ambassadors as well!
PEDAL-TO-PLAY KIDS BIKE PROGRAM with YCS - FALL - FULL!
Biking: Let’s Tour Yarmouth! is a bike-and-play club, an all-access pass to awesome outdoor spaces that kids are free to explore on the regular–they just might not know about them yet! For five Wednesdays, we’ll set out from Y.E.S. across pavement and paths to explore parks and public spaces by bike. When we get to our mystery destination: Free time!
Fostering a sense of independence through exploration and connection through adventure, kids will enjoy mixed-age play at our town’s natural playgrounds until parent pickup. A reminder email will be sent the night before each adventure with our next-day coordinates!
Participants must have proficiency in biking with their backpacks/school supplies for .5 miles at most. Well-fitting helmets, water bottles and extra snacks are a must. The first session will be the shortest trip from Y.E.S. to ensure safety skills and bikes are all in tune. Inclement weather may be a reason for canceling/rescheduling our trips.
This program was created in collaboration with Yarmouth Slow Tech. For more information about this initiative visit: yarmouthslowtech.org
Instructor: Damaris Drummond
VALUES DISCOVERY & DIGITAL FLOURISHING - DATE TBD
Please add your name and evening preferences to this interest list. Based on response, more than one date may be offered.
When did you last have the time, space, guidance (or quiet?) to consider your personal values? How about in the context of parenting? Or more specifically: Parenting in the Digital Age?
Our values—a combination of standards, principles, virtues and ideals—guide judgement and decision-making across all domains of life. The act of identifying values reminds us of how we want to live, how we want to show up for others, and prompts us to ask how we can create the conditions that best support living our values—at home and beyond.
In the context of parenting, discovering and finding clarity about values can be a useful tool for cross-checking decisions and surfacing the kind of conversations we want to have. In this context we’re asking: How do our current habits and tech use align with our values? And what might a personal model of values-aligned Digital Flourishing look like?
Participants will leave more equipped to communicate how and why personal tech choices, changes, or boundaries matter to them, with an understanding of some ways to help loved ones discover the same for themselves.
Snacks and refreshments will be served during social time.
Free and open to parents & caregivers in Yarmouth with RSVP.
and more happenings - coming soon!
FILM SCREENING
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE
& DISCUSS IN COMMUNITY?
or
or
Youth Mental Health in the Digital Age
something else?
Check OUT THE TRAILERS
Thanks, your interest will help us determine what to prioritize!
All films are family-friendly and Screenagers specifically suggests bringing kids to their screenings.
Discussion time would follow any film selected.
Archive / Past Events:
“This is is a crucial read for parents of children of elementary school age and beyond, who face the rapidly changing landscape of childhood. Haidt lays out problems but also solutions for making a better digital life with kids.”
- Emily Oster, New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better
a community read & facilitated discussion of the #1 New York Times bestseller
hosted by Yarmouth PTO
Join us this summer for the first in a new series of Yarmouth Reads, exploring topics worth talking about in community. The discussion will be followed by light refreshments and casual conversation. Opportunities to delve into related topics will continue through the fall with a Parent Ed series TBA.
A SERIES IN THREE PARTS (join for ANY OR ALL)
Yarmouth Elementary School
all sessions 6:30-8:00 PM
Tuesday, July 23rd
Chpts. 1-4 / INTRO & THE BACKSTORY: THE DECLINE OF THE PLAY-BASED CHILDHOOD
Tuesday, July 30th
Chpts. 5-8 / THE GREAT REWIRING: THE RISE OF THE PHONE-BASED CHILDHOOD
Wednesday, August 21st
Chpts. 9-12 & conclusion / COLLECTIVE ACTION FOR HEALTHIER CHILDHOOD
HOW REQUIRED IS THE READING?
Let’s put it this way: Reading “Anxious Generation” is worthwhile, but not required. And there are a variety of ways to access the book’s content (see below).
If you’re curious, we hope you’ll join us. No one will be put on the spot!
Royal River Books has multiple copies of “Anxious Generation”
in stock at a 10% discount for “community read” attendees.
MORE OPTIONS:
The Anxious Generation site is full of resources, including this summary of evidence and regularly updated Collaborative Review documents. Jonathan Haidt’s Substack, After Babel is another way to experience the content one chapter at a time.
FYI on Library editions: Yarmouth’s Merrill Memorial Library (and connected lenders) has had over 100 hold requests for several months.
A free digital edition (and an audio option) can be accessed by Merrill Memorial Library cardholders via Cloud Library.
The Audio book is included on Spotify’s Premium service as well as services such as:
Numerous podcasts! If you’d like to access the information in conversation, here are a few of varying lengths:
The New Yorker (28 min.) or see the edited transcript
Dr. Becky - Good Inside (51 min.)
Video selections: Jonathan Haidt on The Today Show (13 min), The Daily Show (16 min), on stage at the National Summit on Education (52 min) and in conversation with the Wall Street Journal (21 min).
yarmouthslowtech.org
RESOURCES
We talked and messaged with friends.
We spent hours watching, reading, listening, scouring.
What’s helpful? What’s missing? What do you need? Let us know!
This is a “living” list and will be organized and updated continuously.
MASTERLIST OF RESOURCE PAGES
Resource pages of the big resources in these spaces
Newsletters
Free to subscribe, these Substacks will keep your inbox up to date
Etc.
Harder to categorize, no less interesting
Academic & Governmental Papers & Advisories
(collaborative & peer reviewed publishing)
Podcasts
Please add your recs!
READING LIST
a collection of articles & blogs members have found compelling
FILMS/VIDEOS
consider co-watching with tweens and teens
PBS Series “Above the Noise”:
GOING DEEPER . . .
Tools, Courses & Guides
Taking action.
DISCLAIMER:
THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE
The information contained on this website, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material, are for informational purposes only. No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. If your child is experiencing negative consequences of problematic media and technology use, we encourage you to speak with your pediatrician.
If you or someone you know are struggling with thoughts of suicide, contact
Maine Crisis Line: 988
Call, text, or chat.
Free. Confidential. Available 24/7.
HELP
Resources for Awareness, Addiction & Aftermath of Harm
YES,
YARMOUTH!
ROWE
Y.E.S. &
HARRISON
Wait Until 8th is a national nonprofit that helps parents delay smartphone use by identifying a community support system of other parents when pledging not to give their child a smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade (if not longer)--
provided at least 10 other families from their child’s grade and school identify themselves with the pledge too.
Note: The pledge does not preclude phones in old-school mode, such as flip phones or lite phones.
(but what does it mean?)
It means that if you’re waiting until the end of 8th grade–if not later–to give your child a smartphone, you’re not alone.
There are over 100 Yarmouth kids whose families have already taken a (semi) public pledge to delay smartphone use until high school.
It means there are other families to talk to.
There are other families to point to when you hear, “But everybody...”
There’s the chance that this just might become normal.
Or even cool.
In May of 2024, enough Yarmouth families made the commitment to delay smartphone use until high school that both William H. Rowe School and Yarmouth Elementary School appeared on the Wait Until 8th website among the first five schools in Maine with 10 or more families in each class taking the pledge. Harrison Middle School soon followed.
If you have a child who graduates after the year of 2030, there are at minimum ten other families in your child’s graduating class year who are making the same choice –but likely many more.
Among the first 154 parents to respond to our Spring 2024 survey about Kids, Tech & Play, over 40% said that their family had made the decision to delay smartphones until the end of 8th grade, but had not taken the pledge.
Over 20% of respondents were considering the pledge, but had not yet decided. And 14% of respondents said they plan to delay both smartphones and smartwatches until at least the summer before high school.
There are many reasons families don’t pledge. There is not a one-size-fits-every-family or every-community approach, but the fact that people are not just thinking through these decisions, but talking and getting curious about what others are thinking is part of the beauty of the pledge: It’s also helpful to talk about why you aren’t taking it.
And here’s the thing: What if some families aren’t signing because they’re thinking they’ll go further: Perhaps wait until their child gets their first job? Or turns 16?
What if the families who are signing the pledge are considering options like adopting a family flip phone? Wouldn’t it be nice to hear how others weigh these decisions and what factors in? Now you can! Because more than 10 families have joined every class year, each new pledge family receives a list of classmates (with email addresses) as soon as they pledge.
If you haven’t pledged but would like to learn more or attend a social event , please reach out to your class ambassadors!
Related: We’re recruiting WaitUntil8th class ambassadors:
We have at least 3 ambassadors for
every class year through 6th grade!
And we’d like more! We're looking for 4-6 parents to "adopt" each class year as connection points, event hosts, and communicators, ideally committed through 8th grade.
You will be a community liaison for your class, welcoming new members, holding social events with your co-leads (or larger cohort as feels appropriate) and connecting with the classes above and below you, particularly when advancing to a new school.
The structure may look different from class year to class year—it's up to the ambassadors to decide what feels right.
If you’re interested, let us know! We’re happy to have more for any class, especially if you’d like to join the single ambassadors of 7th (2030) & 8th (2029) grades.
The goal is to represent various social circles, neighborhoods, teachers, etc. with 4-6 parents from each graduation year. Please help spread the word!
Want to publicize the pledge?
One of the most effective things you can do is tell your friends! Literally talk and text about it. Emails with a call to action are also effective, as well as posting on socials or even printing posters. The WU8th website has free resources to help you do it all.
Tip: 8x10 “Simple Prints” of Wait Until 8ths free poster designs are .70 per sheet (color printed on “standard white” paper) from Staples Same-Day Printing and can stand up to rain/sun/wind when posted outside.
JOIN US!
(by signing up)
As a member/general supporter of Yarmouth Slow Tech, thank you for taking an interest by joining our mailing list. ->
A step further is attending an event; talking about YST; WaitUntil8th; these ideas; what you’re wondering, learning and hearing. That is service in itself.
For more: Opt-in to our Google Group where conversation continues and working groups organize.
Essentially: We recognize life’s demands and appreciate that people will dip in and out, helping when they can. This is meant to be a guilt-free--and sustainable!--space of support. We’re OK with a slow roll and small gestures (such as adding your name to the website) do make a difference.
Yours in community,
YST
P.S. Consider connecting friends and family in other towns: Check out Turn The Tide Coalition to explore the ecosystem of our sister organizations.
BRIGHT IDEA?
If you’d simply like to send ideas, needs, thoughts, suggestions, opportunities or connections our way, please do!
MEMBERS
*denotes a WU8th class ambassador
grounding member
*Chelsea DeLorme
seeding members
Vanessa Barton
*Heather Wiggins Berger
*Karina Chandler
*Shannon Cummings
Damaris Drummond
*Deidre Fogg
Kate MacGilpin
*Hannah Magee
Kai McGintee
Jenny James
Jill Sady
Todd Severson
*Kaytrue Ting Staley
growing members
*Vanessa Holcomb Mann
*Paige Carter
*Sarah Fischer
Emily Murray
Danielle Smaha
Sadie Jones
Sara Pinto
Jessie McGrath
*Jen Runge
Lindy Graham
Clare Dwyer
Kristina McElhinney
Mary-Jo Valentino
*Libby Chamberlain
Mary Gallaudet
*Erin Olson
Anaïs Ziedins
Noah DeLorme
*Emily Bates
*Sarah Ferguson
Matthew Whittemore
Caitlin Whittemore
Heather DeCourcey
*Lindsay Clarke
*Madeline Backman
Gwen Matthews
Meghan Wells
Hannah Fairbank
Christine Stam
Malaika Danovitz
Rebecca Dugas
and more
with special thanks to PTO Parent Ed Coordinator,
Sheila Carroll for spring/summer ‘24 collaboration
CONTACT
chelsea@yarmouthslowtech.org
a poem for you
we did exist once
Ok what if
Just bear with me here
What if we all
Woke up
One day
And all our phones
Had
Disappeared
Whoa where is my
Honey did you move my
Mom do you know where my
I can’t find mine either
And we would all flounder
For a while
Go to our laptops
And tablets
To feel
“Connected”
But then
When we left the house
We’d reach into our
Pockets
Bags
Purses
And find
Nothing
And soon maybe
Sooner even than we’d expect
We’d start to feel
Relieved
Our brains
Filling up
With
The world
Around us
The sky
The tree
Our own footsteps
We might even start to feel
Ourselves
Making choices
That are not just
Which app
To
Push
Next
I don’t wish harm on the phones
Not really
I know I would
miss mine
very much
But we did exist once
without them
In our pockets
Our bags
Our purses
And we were
Fine
Really
We were fine