Empowering kids and families to reclaim time, attention, and human connection in an age of digital overload.
Kids thrive when they have room to grow
Kids Need Independence
Boredom, risk, and figuring things out on their own build confidence and resilience, two key qualities in happy and successful adults.
Families Are Stronger Together
Delaying smartphones and social media is hard when you feel alone. Together, this practice becomes the new norm.
Childhood
Can't Wait
Childhood is too short to be spent on a screen — let's help our kids make the most of it through free play and real-life friendships.
The evidence is clear. We need to act now.
The research connecting early smartphone and social media use to declining youth mental health is overwhelming.
Here's what the data shows.
What Delaware County students are telling us
Every two years, Pennsylvania surveys students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 through the Pennsylvania Youth Survey. In 2025 it asked for the first time about recreational screen time, meaning hours on a phone, tablet, computer or TV for anything that is not schoolwork, alongside long-standing questions on sleep and mental health.
Delco middle schoolers spend 5 or more hours a day on recreational screen time, on a normal school day
Delco middle schoolers who spend 5 or more hours a day on recreational screen time felt sad or hopeless for two weeks or more in the past year
to have considered suicide or harmed themselves: middle schoolers who spend 5 or more hours a day on recreational screen time, compared with those at an hour or less
- Considered suicide 11.2%→23.2%
- Harmed themselves 10.9%→22.5%
As recreational screen time rises, so does the share of students struggling
Pick an outcome — each point is a group of Delaware County students, grouped by the amount of daily recreational screen time. Hover over each point for exact numbers.
When screen-time rules are enforced, the picture looks different
Both figures below compare Delco middle schoolers whose parents never enforce screen-time rules with those whose parents always do. The first figure includes the four measures from the chart above.
Lower when rules are enforced
- Feel sad or hopeless 33%→18%
- Approached online about sex 12%→5%
- Considered suicide 22%→11%
- Not sleeping enough 69%→51%
Higher when rules are enforced
- Could go to a parent with a problem 75%→88%
- Share thoughts and feelings with parents 57%→80%
- Feel safe at school 74%→90%
- Feel very close to their parents 85%→95%
Students answer this survey once, at a single point in time. That shows enforcement and these outcomes are related, but not that enforcement is the reason for the difference. The gap runs the same direction on all four measures and appears in both Delaware County and the state as a whole, which is what you would expect if rules at home are protective. Families that set rules may also differ in other ways this survey does not measure.
Source: Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) 2025, Delaware County, via the PAYS Web Tool. Recreational screen time is question G5: “On a normal school day, how many hours in total do you use an electronic device such as a phone, tablet, computer, or TV, for something that is not schoolwork?” A normal school day means a typical weekday during the school year, not a weekend or holiday, and the hours cover the whole day rather than time spent at school. Middle school combines grades 6 and 8; high school combines grades 10 and 12. Screen time and these outcomes are related, but the survey cannot show that one causes the other. Students answer it once, so there is no way to tell which came first.
Part of a statewide movement
Delco Unplugged is part of PA Unplugged, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to restoring real-world connection by advocating for policies and cultural norms that prioritize people over technology.