By Jenna Poste, Co-Founder, Unplugged Canada Nova Scotia Chapter
For many parents, one of the hardest decisions of raising kids today is not whether their children will eventually use technology: it’s deciding when.
Smartphones have become so common among children and teens that choosing to wait can sometimes feel like making your child the odd one out. That social pressure is exactly what led me to help launch the Nova Scotia chapter of Unplugged Canada in October of 2024.
I am a mom of two and a technology leader who has spent more than 20 years building software products, from the early days of BlackBerry to artificial intelligence and products for identifying and removing harmful online content. I have seen firsthand both the incredible benefits technology can bring and the ways it can be harmful when introduced too soon. As a parent, that experience has made me much more intentional about technology in our own home.
Unplugged Canada is a grassroots, volunteer parent-led movement built around a simple idea: delay smartphones and social media until high school, while supporting one another so parents are not making that decision alone.
Families can sign the Unplugged Canada pledge to delay smartphones until at least age 14, choosing alternatives that give kids independence and connection, such as a landline or basic phone. The organization also provides resources for parents, schools, sports teams, and communities.
The most powerful part, however, is the community. Here in Hammonds Plains, we are seeing what happens when parents realize they are not alone. Our community’s number of Unplugged pledges is one of the highest in Nova Scotia. In one local grade one class, 36 per cent of families have pledged to delay, helping shift the norm.
That collective commitment takes pressure off families and gives kids more time for what makes childhood healthy: playing outside, connecting face-to-face, developing independence, sleeping well, and simply having space to grow up before entering an adult-designed digital world.
We are starting to see the norm change, and it begins with a few families deciding to change it together.
Visit www.unpluggedcanada.com to learn more and sign the pledge to delay!