<![CDATA[Catch Us Up: Who's Who ]]>https://catchusup.substack.com/s/whos-whohttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sAir!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb09315d8-0825-44b2-83ea-5eecea3e1c46_888x888.pngCatch Us Up: Who's Who https://catchusup.substack.com/s/whos-whoSubstackThu, 07 May 2026 21:00:25 GMT<![CDATA[Gen-Z Speaks Out]]>https://catchusup.substack.com/p/who-in-gen-z-is-speaking-outhttps://catchusup.substack.com/p/who-in-gen-z-is-speaking-outSun, 09 Nov 2025 01:22:47 GMT
three men and laughing two women walking side by side

As the old adage says, “to know the road ahead, ask those coming back.”

For parents today, “those coming back” are the youth born a decade or two before our own kids.

Young people in Gen-Z are beginning to speak out about their experiences as the first humans in history to grow up on screens, and are advocating for better experiences for our children.

Their wisdom is hard won - their recommendations should be taken seriously, and their feedback on “what I wish my parents/adults had done differently” can help us guide our children with the support and guardrails their generation didn’t have.

IF YOU HAVE TWEENS AND TEENS, these are the voices that will back up any screen rules you have (or can be the primary source of screen info you share with them). As we know, the voices of elder peers begin to matter more and more as we age.

Group of friends taking a selfie in a classroom

You’ll Find Below:

1. an ever-growing list of Gen-Z advocates and Gen-Z founded organizations

2. Podcasts and articles with members of Gen-Z that can be shared with our older kids and teens

1. Gen-Z Advocates and Organizations

(Listed in alphabetical order)

APPstinence - founded by Harvard student Gabriela Nguyen - “Social media is optional - why isn’t anyone telling us this?”.

Ava Smithing - advocacy director at the Young People’s Alliance, whose podcast Left to Their Own Devices chronicles the voices and experiences of Gen-Z youth around tech.

Behind Our Screens - UK-based organization started by Roxana Longworth after recovering from peer-perpetrated sextortion that nearly ended her life at age 14. She now supports other youth going through similar challenges. Instagram here

Center for Digital Thriving - Harvard’s center for supporting youth around digital life.

CyberFareedah - nearly trafficked by someone she met online as a young teen, Fareedah speaks out to help parents understand the online world and provides resources for families.

Design it for Us and the LogOff Movement - Founded by teen Emma Lembke to advocate for tech companies taking users’ well-beings into account in the design of their products.

Elias Wachtel - assistant editor at the Atlantic whose article and reel speaks to Gen-Z’s growing realization that they do have a choice about tech use, and they can choose differently for themselves.

Encode - founded by Sneha Revanur to advocate for human-centered AI - their motto, “we fight to ensure that AI works for the American people” means they’re “pro- AI, pro-human, pro-progress, pro-innovation”.

Game Quitters - Cam Adair, a self-described former gaming addict, now devotes his time and energy to helping other addicted gamers recover, and also supporting and educating their parents.

Freya India - leading voice of Gen-Z, she is an author of Girls: Generation Z and the Commodification of Everything, and frequent contributor to Jonathan Haidt’s After Babel.

Half the Story - founded by Larissa May in her dorm room to advocate for a world in which “teens are empowered by the algorithm, not consumed by them”. Their Substack In the Loop is here.

LookUpp - designed by a 15-year-old high school student and his older brother to incentivize in-person interaction and combat screen-driven malaise.

The Luddite Club - founded by teens who call themselves “former screenagers”, in hopes of supporting other young people in unplugging and reclaiming their lives.

Humanality - former musician Andrew Laubacher’s organization aiming to reconnect young people and support them in stepping back from tech-centric lives. Andrew at times will reference his journey from non-religious to Christian, though religion is not the main focus of this organization.

Kori Jane Spaulding - poet and author of “It Was the Damn Phones”.

NoSo November - short for “No Social Media” November, was founded by Maddie Freeman (interviewed about this by Ava Smithing here) to help Gen-Z take back control over their social media use in the month of November.

Project Reboot - started by Cal Berkeley grad Dino Ambrosi to help his generation “build empowering relationships with technology”.

The Reconnect Movement - started by Sean Killingsworth as a teen to help his generation reclaim the social lives taken from them by screens. Sean’s TEDX Talk uses a scene from Disney’s The Lion King to help adults visualize the impacted tech ecosystem that youth face.

ReThink - created by Trisha Prabhu to help youth stop and think before posting something hurtful online, and now in 2026 a new online game helping Gen-Z relate authentically in person, Only 7 Seconds.

Strother School of Radical Attention - founded by Gen-Z students in Sao Paolo, Brazil, this movement has since spread to the United States and Spain. Their mission is to reclaim attention from screen and algorithm influence.

Voicebox - international platform created “for young people by young people”, to share their perspectives and share content, run by Gen-Z director Natalie Foos.

Voices of Gen-Z - Jonathan Haidt’s After Babel Substack has a section devoted to uplifting the voices of Gen-Z. Find countless compelling articles written by Gen-Z youth in the Voices of Gen-Z tab. Most recently they inspired the Oct 10, 2025 mass app deletion, called “A Time To Refuse”.

Vys - a youth-formed consulting service for tech and gaming companies to provide the youth voice and perspective, advocating for positive, human-centered design.

Wired Human Youth Coalition - and offshoot of Wired Human, a youth-led movement to amplify the youth voice on issues of technology and its impacts.

  • “Dear Smartphone” short video - written, produced, and edited by Wired Human Youth Coalition as a letter to their smartphones.

Young Futures - “making the digital world an easier place to grow up in”, run for and by young people, for those born into the digital world and battling the hurdles none of us had to face in generations prior. They have a Substack as well.

Young People’s Alliance - youth legislative body seeking to represent the needs of youth on Capitol Hill, USA.

Youth Advisory Council at Culture Reframed - new youth branch of Culture Reframed, helping youth navigate the world of online pornography.

Subscribe now

Group of friends taking a selfie outdoors

2. Gen-Z Speaks Out:

Hear them discuss their experiences in their own words. Listed in reverse chronological order (newest first).

BOOK: Girls: Gen-Z and the Commodification of Everything (2026) - by Freya India. One of the leading voices of Gen-Z, Freya explores the impacts of growing up immersed in technology and the effects this has had on Gen-Z females. Substack release here, recent video interview about it here.

ARTICLE: “We Owe it to College Students to Create Screen-Free Spaces”, NY Times guest essay by Yale professor Colleen Kinder, December 19. 2025.

PODCAST SERIES: Left to Their Own Devices - a show produced by Gen-Z’s Ava Smithing, in tandem with The Toronto Star, putting on blast her generation’s experiences on screens.

PODCAST EPISODE: “10 Things I’m Thankful For Because I Grew Up Without Toxic Screens”, ScreenStrong Families podcast, November 26. 2025.

21-year-old Evan Hempe, brother of Adam Hempe whose gaming addiction inspired his mother to begin ScreenStrong, relays the things he’s grateful for having grown up very differently than his peers, without “toxic” screens (Screenstrong defines “toxic” screens as the trifecta of gaming, porn, and social media).

PODCAST EPISODE: “How Youth Voices Are Reclaiming the Digital Future (with Ava Smithing)”, Scrolling2Death, November 24, 2025.

ARTICLE/SUBSTACK: “I’m a Teenager, This is How We Can Protect Kids from Online Harm”, by Elle Vida, Bulwark, Oct, 24,. 2025.

PODCAST EPISODE: “Appstinence” with Gabriela Nguyen. Did you know that you can be “appstinent” or “cellibate”? These tongue-in-cheek words convey the deeper empowerment of this hopeful movement, started for Gen-Z by Gen-Z (Gabriela is the founder), to reclaim their youth and time that was lost to screens.

“Appstinence - A New Gen-Z Trend? With Gabriela Nguyen”, Healthy Screen Habits Podcast, October 15, 2025.

PODCAST EPISODE: “Raising Originals in a World of Clones” with Andrew and Evan Hempe, 1000 Hours Outside, episode 557, Aug 26, 2025.

While Screenstrong was started by their mother, the three sons, Adam, Andrew, and Evan, often speak out about their experiences with screens. Adam, the eldest, was the gaming addict who inspired Screenstrong, and Andrew and Evan (the youngest) are the kids who were raised screen-free as a result. They speak here to Ginny of 1000 Hours Outside about what it’s like to be Gen-Z kids who grew up without screens.

PODCAST EPISODE: “Boredom In, Boredom Out - How Teens Experience Social Media”, ScreenAgers/ Parenting in the Screen Age Podcast, May 26, 2025.

Dr. Ruston speaks with University of Washington’s Digital Youth Lab co-director, Dr. Katie Davis, about results of their research on teenagers’ emotional drivers for social media use. The research results are fascinating, and the podcast includes a response from a current college student listening in on the conversation, who reacts to the research results being shared.

PODCAST EPISODE: “A Teen Fighting Screen Addiction with Atiksh Bahn” - Scrolling2Death, May 19, 2025.

A great conversation to share with our tweens and teens - a current 15-year-old high school student discusses the impact of smartphones as they were introduced to his group of friends, his experience with a flip phone, and the LookUpp app he’s designing to try and fix the problems he sees with smartphone use in his generation.

PODCAST EPISODE: “Sean Killingsworth: The Reconnect Movement”, GenFree Podcast, April 12, 2025.

PODCAST EPISODE: “What’s Up with Today’s Online Youth? A Conversation with Dino Ambrosi (Founder of Project Reboot)” - CyberWise Chats, Feb 26, 2025.

Dino founded Project Reboot as a student at Cal Berkeley, and has his finger on the pulse of ‘kids and tech’ at the moment. He speaks brilliantly about the multifaceted areas kids face with technology today, and dialogues with CyberWise’s Diana Graber and Pamela Rutledge on the current state of the union with kids and tech - a must-listen through the end, especially regarding where AI is heading.

  • Web Link here, Video link below

  • Dino’s TED TALK:

ARTICLE/SUBSTACK: “Gen Z, Social Media is Optional” by Gabriela Nguyen, AfterBabel, Jan 23, 2025. “Moderation of platforms that are designed to hook you is more trouble than it’s worth.“

After Babel
Gen Z, Social Media is Optional
Introduction from Zach Rausch…
Read more
a year ago · 539 likes · 46 comments · Gabriela Nguyen (inactive)

PODCAST EPISODE: “The Gen-Z Perspective: Honest Truths about Social Media and Screens” - ScreenStrong Podcast, episode 223, January 22, 2025 - Interview with two young Harvard graduate school students who founded the Appstinent movement to help Gen-Z (and all of us) reconfigure our relationships with technology.

PODCAST EPISODE: “I Used a Flip Phone in High School” - Scrolling2Death, December 30, 2024 - Interview with 21-year-old Sean Killingsworth about his tech and smart phone experiences while growing up as a Gen-Z teen, and how it inspired him to start The Reconnect Movement to help his generation reclaim the social environment and skills that smartphones eliminated.

PODCAST EPISODE: “A Teen’s Perspective on Setting Boundaries Around Tech” - The ScreenStrong Podcast, October 16, 2024:

ARTICLE/SUBSTACK: “A Time We Never Knew” by Freya India, AfterBabel, April 22, 2024. A heart-wrenching wish from those born too late to experience the type of teenage years the rest of us experienced.

After Babel
A Time We Never Knew
Introduction from Jon Haidt…
Read more
2 years ago · 2598 likes · 195 comments · Freya India

PODCAST EPISODE: “Sam Hiner of Young People’s Alliance”, Reconnect Podcast, May 3, 2024. An interview with Sam Hiner, founder of Young People’s Alliance, and Sean Killingsworth of The Reconnect Movement, two young people who founded non-profits as high school students.

PODCAST EPISODE: “We Wish We Didn’t Get Social Media So Young (with Maya Englehorn)” - Scrolling2Death, April 21, 2024.

A candid conversation with 20-year-old college junior, Maya Englehorn, who shares personal experience and research she is doing at her university to track social media’s impact on young people who grew up with it.

Web link here

VIDEO: two Gen-Z brothers, Andrew and Evan, discuss the difference between IRL friends and online friends -

3. What Do Adults and Researchers Say About Gen-Z?

Only the good stuff included here: :)

Podcast: “26 is the new 18” with Tim Elmore, author of The Future Begins with Z, 1000 Hours Outside podcast, November 4, 2025.

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]]><![CDATA[Who Offers Healthier & Family-Friendly Tech Options?]]>https://catchusup.substack.com/p/family-friendly-tech-optionshttps://catchusup.substack.com/p/family-friendly-tech-optionsSun, 19 Oct 2025 22:25:58 GMT
a group of people sitting on top of a wooden dock

We are beyond grateful for these entrepreneurs below, bringing youth-friendly devices and programs to the market to give parents better tech options for their kids.

This is a working, master list of safer tech options that exist, so parents may know the alternate tech options that exist for children.

We do not work with any of these companies, nor do we make any money or commission off of listing them here - this is truly just parents helping parents.

Smartphone + Watch Alternatives

Lists of Smartphone Recommendations Compiled by Non-Profits

“Dumbphone” extension for smart phones (so you can leave yours behind and not be distracted) - all the rage with Gen-Z right now - dumb.co

Healthier & Kid-Friendly Social Media, Software, & Hardware

  • AngelQ: a browser using AI to protect kids and put families in control of screen use

  • Aro: (✝︎): helping parents manage their and their children’s screen time at home with a home dock/box where phones can be away, and an app where time off phone is tracked and rewarded

  • Freespoke: an AI-powered search engine that returns control to to the human searcher (rather than advertisers and algorithms), shares resources from all political sides of the debate (labeled as such for the human to evaluate), does not sell user data, and where porn is not included or available ever in the sources returned.

  • Promly: a social media network designed by Gen-Z for kids aged 13-19

  • Roundabout: yet-to-be-released (as of April 2026) social media platform designed by non-profit New_Public, where researchers, engineers, and community leaders are collaborating to reinvent social media as a force for connection and thriving.

  • ScrollHappy/UP: social media network prioritizing uplifting content

  • Sage Haven: a safer way to chat for kids

  • We Are 8: new social media network aiming to shift back to the original purpose of social media - connection and unity, not algorithmically-driven user-capture

Conversation Card Decks

Start conversations about tech with the help of these card decks, to support your child and your family in grappling with thorny tech issues and building value systems around technology use.

Hear from Founders & CEOs of these Family-Friendly Alternatives

Article/Interviews:

PODCASTS:

  • Discuss New_Public’s upcoming Roundabout social media platform with Co-Director Deepti Doshi, who sat down to chat with Emily Tavoulareas on the HomeScreen podcast.

  • AngelQ - “AngelQ - A Kid’s-First Superbrowser with Tim Estes,” Healthy Screen Habits podcast, September 3, 2025.

    Learn more about the first browser created with kids in mind, from founder Tim Estes.

  • The Cosmo Watch: “Taking Back the Neighborhood - How Family-First Technology Can Revive Real World Childhoods” with Cosmo Technologies Founder Russel York, 1000 Hours Outside, episode 532, July 23, 2025.

    COSMO Technology founder, Russell York, talks with the 1000 Hours Outside podcast about his company’s safer smartwatches for kids, and how they’re designed to be tools that help both kids and parents reclaim the freedom of childhood.

  • Sage Haven: “A Safer Way for Kids to Chat” with Kate Doerksen - Scrolling2Death, March 13, 2025.

    It appears that we are on the brink of a new era in tech, as multiple kid-friendlier tech products are poised to launch soon. Hear Kate’s inspiration for starting Sage Haven for safer chatting, and what she hopes it to be when it launches later this spring.

This list is being continuously updated - check back now and then for more resources. :)

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]]><![CDATA[Who's Who in the 'Youth & Tech' Space?]]>https://catchusup.substack.com/p/whos-who-in-the-youth-and-tech-spacehttps://catchusup.substack.com/p/whos-who-in-the-youth-and-tech-spaceThu, 02 Oct 2025 00:17:16 GMT
group of people sitting on chair in front of brown wooden table

Those listed below devote their careers to helping parents, families, and youth as new technology floods our lives.

Follow along on their social media or via their newsletters, to support these wonderful humans doing good work to help us all.

This list is continuously updated as we discover new people and organizations in this space.

Within each category, names are listed in alphabetical order.

Categories (click to jump directly)

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Non-Profits & Organizations (general)

The Algorithmic Justice League - working toward equitable and accountable AI systems, producers of the documentary Coded Bias

All Tech is Human - gathering voices and bringing together diverse groups to call for responsible tech development that leads to a future “aligned with public interest”

Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) - organization working to undo negative information, misinformation, and disinformation online, shedding light on how algorithms target this content toward children

Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) - non-partisan non-profit organization conducing research on technology to inform legislation and laws seeking to preserve human’s civil rights.

Center for Humane Technology - nonprofit research and podcast run by former tech industry employees Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin, who left the industry to try to mitigate the damages their companies helped unleash. Producers of The Social Dilemma documentary and Your Undivided Attention podcast, they also provide a guide for kids and parents on how big tech works against their best interests. Follow their Substack to be on the cutting edge of tech policy news & information

Children and Screens - The Institute of Digital Media and Child Development is an international nonprofit researching, collecting, data, and using their findings to advocate for a safer world for kids online

DopaMind - nonprofit with resources, speakers, podcast, and youth programs “helping young people navigate tech in the digital age”

Equimundo - non-profit working to support healthy masculinity and male relationships, amidst the unhealthy online worlds in which young men find themselves immersed.

Fair Play - “Fairplay is the leading nonprofit organization committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children” - a wonderful organization advocating for the rights of children in our commercialized society, especially their ScreenTime Action Network and ParentsSOS.

Healthy Screen Habits: founded in 2018, this organization run by parents and former educators provides tools for families and kids, a workbook for tweens, a podcast, and tons of research and parent guides on their website

Heat Initiative - advocacy group tackling problematic areas in the tech industry, led by parent advocate Sarah Gardner

Institute for Families and Technology - advocating for family-friendly tech development and design, with the goal of “a society where families are freed from the worries of digital technology harming children and hindering healthy development.” Yes please.

Let Grow - advocating for childhood growth through independence and play outdoors, away from screens and constant monitoring - founded by Jonathan Haidt, Lenore Skenazy, and Peter Gray

MAMA (Mothers Against Media Addiction) - the movement to organize parents and caring adults to advocate for children in the digital space. Local chapters organize to advocate for their communities

Project LookUp - founded by parent and author of For the Sake of Our Youth, Tessa Stuckey LPC, to support parents, students, and faith-based organizations in advocating for a world where tech enhances human connection.

Protect Young Eyes (✝︎) - comprehensive organization sharing newsletters, blogs, social media, and up-to-date information on the tech industry, including app reviews and how to manage tech hardware (routers etc.) to protect kids in the home. Founder on occasion will share perspectives from his Christian faith, though the organization is not officially religiously-affiliated.

Raising Awareness About Digital Dangers (RADD) - Canadian non-profit founded by Margot Denommé, offering guides for parents and families on navigating digital life, and advocating for both media literacy and screen-free schools.

ScreenFree.org - non-profit sponsoring an annual “screen-free” week each year.

Smartphone Free Childhood: non-profit group with a pledge to delay tech, that provides resources for parents seeking to push back on the norm that children should be given tech at a young age

The Transparency Coalition - non-profit working to address AI harms on kids, and advocating for legislation that puts human-centered safety guardrails on AI development.

Wait Until 8th - USA parents can pledge here to wait until after 8th grade to get your child a smartphone, and rally their friends’ parents at school to create a peer group free from the pressure to own phones. Pledge groups are activated when 10 families from the same grade at the same school pledge to wait. See a short video of their story here

Researchers, Authors, & Medical Professionals:

Richard Freed, PhD - psychologist and author of Better Than Real Life, Dr. Freed shines a light on the persuasive design practices purposely built into tech platforms to entrap humans by hacking our psychology and physiology for profit.

Jonathan Haidt, PhD - author, researcher, and speaker behind the best-selling book, The Anxious Generation that has spawned a movement. Connect with him on Instagram @FreeTheAnxiousGeneration and his Substack After Babel

Devorah Heitner, PhD - author of books on ‘digital natives’ including Growing Up in Public and Screenwise, with wonderful advice and tips for parents raising digital kids

Health Professionals for Safer Screens - UK-based medical professionals advocating for a safer childhood for kids

Institute for Child Psychology - Canadian psychologists advocating to reduce the mental health impacts of screens. They have their own podcast on these topics also

Nicholas Kardaras, PhD - Psychologist and author of best-selling tech books Digital Madness and Glow Kids, he speaks eloquently on the topics of addiction, brain science, and tech’s impact on kids

Delaney Ruston, MD - pediatrician mother and filmmaker who created the Screenagers documentaries & podcast, Dr. Ruston’s documentaries and podcast shed light on the impact of tech and the struggles of kids today

ScreenStrong Families, Melanie Hempe, BSN - Screenstrong provides resources, books, a Substack, and a podcast sharing medical information on the brain science associated with teens and the most harmful types of screen use - social media, gaming, and pornography. Melanie is a registered nurse and mother of four whose eldest developed a gaming addiction as a teen - this organization was born in her efforts to prevent other families from having the same experience.

The Screentime Consultant, Emily Cherkin, M.Ed - Emily, a former teacher and mother, has amazing advice for parenting digital kids in her book The Screentime Solution (2024), and through her online blog on how to be “tech intentional”

ShowToolsAI - Jeremy Carrasco, a former film producer, has taken to Instagram to help people discern AI photos and videos from actual footage, helping us build a skill never before needed in the history of humanity that is very necessary today. Much gratitude to Jeremy for helping us start to get our footing in this new world.

The Smartphone Effect MD, Dr. Alison Yeung, MD - a Canadian pediatrician and mother provides insightful guidance and advice for families, doctor and parent, and parent to parent. “MD & mom, educating and empowering parents to raise resilient kids in a tech heavy world. Challenging the narrative pushed by Big Tech.” She writes on Substack at The SmartPhone Effect and on Instagram @smartphoneeffectmd, and has been interviewed on many programs and podcasts

Spark and Stitch Institute - a non-profit run by famed psychologist Dr. David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIML) & his adult daughter Erin, they work together to provide loving support for families, encouraging connection between parents and kids in the digital age. They have a podcast, guides for parents, and blog posts sharing important information

Jean Twenge, PhD - generational researcher, professor, and mom of three whose research uncovered how smartphones have affected this generation of kids, as their data differs from all previous generations living today. Author of the new 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High Tech World (2025), and previous books iGen (2017) and Generations (2023), where this research is explored

For Parents By Parents

Alliance to Counter Crime Online and the Alexander Neville Foundation - founded by mom Amy Neville who lost her 14-year-old son to a Fentanyl pill he bought on SnapChat. Now she advocates for removing criminals from kid-centered online spaces.

Always On/Generation Disconnected - educator, parent, and author of Always On, Shona Schwartz, supports families through in-person workshops and articles on her Substack.

The Balance Project - started by two “elder Millennial” parents trying and raise their three children with as much balance as possible in this tech-heavy world. They share wonderful resources on their Instagram accout.

Becca Schmill Foundation - founded by mom Deb Schmill in honor of her daughter Becca, who was also lost to a Fentanyl pill purchased online, following a horrific victimization by someone she met on social media and a cyberbullying incident that left her “with a hole in her chest”. Becca’s mom advocates for other youth to ensure that what happened to Becca doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Better Screen Time: parents of five kids, Angela Davis and her husband Tyler “lead families to slow tech”. Stemming from their own experience with their eldest child’s screen use and having to walk back on tech after providing it, they share family-friendly resources, tips, and guidance on their website, Instagram, and via blog posts

Close Screens, Open Minds - Instagram account and YouTube account supporting parents in delaying smartphone use, started by UK moms, including Hugh Grant’s wife, Anna Grant, and UK actor and activist Sophie Winkleman

The Common Parent - two moms Cat and Nat (with seven kids between them) have written their ScreenSense Guide and post very helpful information on Instagram

Dis/Connect - a parent and former teacher helps students reset their relationships with their phones, and offers a tech detox camp for youth. Based in Wisconsin, USA

Family IT Guy - father Ben Gillenwater is the former chief technologist for a $10 billion IT company with over 30 years of experience in the tech world, but even he ran into trouble when tech entered his son’s life. He shares helpful tips with parents via his guides, podcast, YouTube channel, and Instagram

Four Norms - Los Angeles-based parent network, connecting parents and providing resources and language to push back against the tech industry in schools and in life.

Healthier Tech - Julie Frumin LMFT, co-founder of Distraction-Free Schools CA, and leader of a California chapter of MAMA (Mothers Against Media Addiction, below) offers info, consulting, and guidance to families seeking a healthier balance with tech.

iParent 101 - Dr. Adam Pletter, a licensed clinical psychologist, helps families integrate tech into their lives in more balanced ways with screen skills, guides, videos, and a book, based in Bethesda, MD.

MAMA (Mothers Against Media Addiction) - the movement to organize parents and caring adults to advocate for children in the digital space. Local chapters organize to advocate for their communities

Mom Uncharted - mother Sarah Adams helps adults learn the ever-shifting changes and dangers to kids online, with her rally “kids are not content”.

Mind and Child - two mothers with 5 kids between them offer courses and free resources to help other parents with kids aged 1 to 12 on this tech & parenting journey. Also on Instagram

Parents Rise - Founded by parents who lost their children to social media, they endeavor to fix harmful social media systems by advocating for legislation to protect children.

ParentsSOS - a child-safety advocacy organization for and by survivor parents whose children have died due to screen-based harms, co-founded by FairPlay.

Parents Together - not solely focused on tech, though much of their content and many resources assist parents with tech.

Raising Digital Citizens - Danish Way of Parenting and Danish Way Everyday author Jessica Joelle Alexander’s program for parents raising digital kids (based on the Danish digital literacy model). Includes a card deck for conversations with our kids to develop digital literacy

ReConnect with Julia Storm - Los Angeles-based mom helping families create balanced approaches to tech with bite-sized courses for busy parents and blog posts on common parenting challenges

Schools Beyond Screens - parents in the Los Angeles Unified School District banding together to resist and push back against screen-based learning in the district.

Screen Guys - father of seven who works alongside one of his Gen-Z sons to address healthier screen use.

Screen Sanity - started by a trio of moms in 2018, Screen Sanity provides wonderful resources for parents on all screen-related topics for all ages, plus a podcast.

Screen Sense - group supporting families and schools around tech, organizing pledges to delay tech and create a low-screen peer groups in Marin County, CA. They also offer Kids IRL, endeavoring to get kids together outside in real life.

ScreenStrong Families, Melanie Hempe, BSN - Screenstrong provides resources, books, a Substack, and a podcast sharing medical information on the brain science associated with teens and the most harmful types of screen use - social media, gaming, and pornography. Melanie is a registered nurse and mother of four whose eldest developed a gaming addiction as a teen - this organization was born in her efforts to prevent other families from having the same experience.

Scrolling2Death - In-depth expert interviews shared via podcast, plus reporting from inside the courtroom in Los Angeles during the current (Feb 2026) Meta trials, from mom and advocate Nicki Petrossi.

SelfCtrl - started by former gaming addict Ian McCready, who realized after becoming a father himself, that parents need support to build healthier relationships with screens and model this for their children.

Successful Parent - Child psychologist Dr. Carrie Mackensen’s site supporting fellow parents around screens, with free resources and in-person coaching.

Legal & Legislative Support

Alliance to Counter Crime Online - founded by mom Amy Neville who lost her 14-year-old son to a Fentanyl pill he bought on SnapChat. Now she advocates for removing criminals from having access to kids online

Beyond the Screen - Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen’s non-profit, endeavoring to create system-wide accountability across social media platforms

Digital Childhood Alliance - USA-based organization advocating for reasonable legislation that protects youth in the tech space

Ed Tech Law Center - legal center helping parents navigate screen technology requirements and student data mining in schools

Family Online Safety Institute - presence in the legislative space working to support tech laws that benefit children and families

Heat Initiative - holding the tech industry accountable for failures to protect children online, predominantly in the areas of online child sexual abuse

Social Media Victims Law Center - legal firm representing families of children harmed or killed by social media products, endeavoring to hold tech companies accountable and influence policy change toward the protection of youth online

Tech Justice Law Project - “Tech Justice Law Project works with a collective of legal experts, policy advocates, digital rights organizations, and technologists to ensure that legal and policy frameworks are fit for the digital age.”

The Tech Oversight Project - organization working to hold Big Tech responsible, and run The Dispatch, reporting on all tech lawsuits and legislation.

In Schools

Away for the Day: the campaign helping schools keep smartphones and smart watches away for the school day - a campaign led by ScreenAgers

CyberCivics + CyberWise - a digital literacy curriculum for grades 5-8 developed for Waldorf schools and now taught nationwide, and a parent support community with a podcast, resources, and live webinars

Cyber Safe Schools - Founded by former ICAC investigator and parent Mike Lemon to help children learn the skills needed to keep themselves safe online.

Defending the Early Years - non-profit “working for a just, equitable, and quality early childhood education for every young child”, including pushing back on screens in the classroom.

Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project - national movement advocating for reduced screens in school (both Ed-Tech and smartphone bans) to reduce screen use and protect kids from screen-based distractions during the school day.

Distraction-Free Schools CA - California branch of the Distraction-Free Schools network, advocating to pass legislation to reduce screen use and protect kids from screen-based distractions during the school day.

Every School - Creators of the Phone-Free Schools project, offers support and resources for every school to take learning back into their own hands.

First Fish Chronicles - Emily Cherkin’s hub for advocacy in the US and UK education systems, to reduce screen-dependent learning systems and assist parents in advocating to their districts to reduce screen dependence.

Jared Cooney Horvath - author of The Digital Delusion and advocate for reducing the dependence upon screens in schools, as evidence mounts that it’s hurting learning objectives, decreasing kids’ attention spans and abilities to focus in school.

Media Literacy Now - “Media Literacy Now is leading the grassroots movement to create a public education system that ensures all students learn the 21st century literacy skills they need for health, well-being, economic participation, and citizenship”.

NAMLE (National Association for Media Literacy Education) - predominantly funded by the tech industry, so take everything they say with a grain of salt - their advice is often very pro-technology and minimizes concerns.

Phone Free Schools State Report Card - tracking ‘screens in schools’ policies at the state level in the United States.

Safe Screens - UK-based non-profit group UsForThem, advocating for children’s interests and pushing back on the intrusion of Ed-Tech since the Covid-19 pandemic

Schools Beyond Screens - parents in the Los Angeles Unified School District banding together to resist and push back against screen-based learning in the district.

Tech Safe Learning Coalition - Started by Nicki Petrossi of Scrolling2Death, to support parents in opting out of school-based tech.

Rebecca Winthrop and Jenny Anderson - authors and researchers whose book The Disengaged Teen addresses how kids learn in schools and how Ed-Tech derails this.

Wired Human - former teachers who watched their students implode as smartphones entered their lives founded this non-profit, advocating for youth to rise up and above the influence of tech in their lives. They lead a youth coalition and share resources for educators and families their blog

Online Pornography & Sexual Abuse

Culture Reframed - non-profit founded by Dr. Gail Dines, author of Pornland, offering research, resources, and parent courses to support parents as we raise digital kids in a world full of online pornography. They have also newly added a youth advisory council where young people can begin to tackle these topics together.

Defend Young Minds - helping kids learn “digital self defense” to protect themselves from online pornography exposure. Founder of this organization also authored of the incredibly helpful picture books, Good Pictures, Bad Pictures, and Good Pictures, Bad Pictures Jr. They can also be found on Instagram

Equimundo - non-profit working to support healthy masculinity and relationships, amidst the unhealthy online worlds in which young men find themselves immersed.

Fight the New Drug - non-religious, non-legislative nonprofit providing resources, articles, videos, and a 3-part documentary to help youth combat online pornography’s impact and addiction

Heat Initiative - a group that endeavors to hold the tech industry accountable for failures to protect children online, predominantly in the areas of online child sexual abuse

International Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - finding missing children both internationally and in the US who are trapped in exploitation, and reuniting them with their families.

Link Up Lab - a collaboration between Futures Without Violence and Equimundo to provide an alternative “healthy future for young men online”, away from extremism and sexism that algorithms often feed to young males.

NCOSE (National Center on Sexual Exploitation) - nonprofit that “exists to build a world where people can live and love free without sexual abuse and exploitation”. A main focus is child sexual abuse via online platforms, and they maintain a “Dirty Dozen” list, naming the online spaces with the most adult sexual predators engaging with children online.

Nofap.org - website helping people overcome and recover from online pornography addiction. Provides resources, forums, and support groups to assist in this endeavor, which they term “rebooting”

Parents Aware - support/resources, newsletter, and podcast from a mom of five boys who has dealt with online porn issues in her own family, and has recommendations and advice to share.

Relay - recovery and support network for pornography users

Thorn - organization originally co-founded by Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher to fight child abuse, including online. Tips and resources for keeping kids safe from online sexual exploitation and abuse.

Tools and Pledges to Delay Tech

Delay is the Way - pledge movement from Protect Young Eyes to help parents delay screen-based tech in their families. #delayistheway

Delay Smartphones - UK-based group helping parents delay a phone-based childhood

OK to Delay - USA-based network supporting parents and families seeking to delay tech

Postman Pledge (✝︎)- a pledge for Christian parents to delay giving their children technology

Smartphone Free Childhood - non-profit group that began in the UK and now has a USA branch. They have a pledge to delay for parents, and resources for families seeking to push back on the norm that children should be given tech at a young age. Pledge here.

Wait Until 8th - USA parents can pledge here to wait until after 8th grade to get your child a smartphone, and rally their friends’ parents at school to create a peer group free from the pressure to own phones. Pledge groups are activated when 10 families from the same grade at the same school pledge to wait. See a short video of their story here

Wait Mate - Australian movement with pledge to delay smart phone use

Whistleblowers

Thanks to these very brave folks, we have insider information and behind-the-scenes knowledge of the tech industry’s true workings, motivations, and failures. To support whistleblowers, see Psst.org.

GEN-Z founded & Gen-Z focused organizations:

⭐️ These folks have their own dedicated post here, which includes podcasts, articles, and interviews with Gen-Z founders and activists. ⭐️

The links below connect to our compilations of podcasts, books, documentaries, and Substacks. They can be also be accessed via this page.

Podcasts ⬇️

Books ⬇️

Films & Documentaries ⬇️

Substacks ⬇️

Congrats for making it all the way down to the bottom. Your kids are lucky to have you. May the resources above bring you the support and info you seek for your families.

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