As a parent community, I voluntarily agree to support the following for my Grade 4 child. This is a living document — it will evolve each year as our kids mature.
Delay giving my child a fully unfettered smartphone until at least the end of 8th grade. If they already have one, simplify it — remove the App Store, restrict the browser, or switch to a kid-safe device.
Keep my child off TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, YouTube Shorts and similar platforms until at least age 13. If they already have an account, take a community pause or heavily co-monitor with family-only interactions.
Keep kid group chats (iMessage, WhatsApp) small, known, and parent-visible. One unsupervised group chat can undo everything else.
No screens in bedrooms or bathrooms. All devices charge in a common area overnight. Screens off 60 minutes before bed.
Join a shared weekly gaming window (e.g., Friday 4:00–5:30 PM) so kids can play multiplayer together without the 'everyone's online except me' FOMO.
Attend or host our Grade 4 outdoor meetups at local parks. The best way to reduce screens is to replace them with real connection.
When hosting a sleepover, keep phones in a common area. When sending your child, ask the host family about their screen rules. Sleepovers are where pacts quietly break.
Shift screen time from passive consuming (endless scrolling, Shorts, auto-play) to active creating (coding, digital art, audio-learning).
Join our quarterly parent check-ins to share ideas, compare notes, and support each other through the frustrations of digital parenting.