Our Smartphone Free Childhood NZ website launches December 15!
Until then our parent and school resources fall under Unplugged Rebels NZ.
Once that launches the Unplugged Rebels NZ will be a Youth resource.
Parents, educators and health professionals are joining the movement, as we all know something is not right with a phone based childhood, but have either given in to social pressure and 'norms' of handing one over (at the average age of just 11) or chosen social isolation.
Not only do we see now, through the research, how this has impacted children and young people all over the world, but we in New Zealand are winning that race to the bottom (slow clap)
3rd Place - Cyberbullying; NZ is the 3rd highest out of 29 countries surveyed
2nd Place - NZ’s youth suicide rate is the second worst in the developed world (more than twice the average among the 41 OECD countries surveyed)
1st Place - OECD data in 2018 showed that youth in NZ used digital devices 42 hours per week on average, compared to 35 hours globally.
The latest research shows that smartphones and social media have ill effects on our tamariki (children) and rangatahi (young people) and it is contributing to issues such as decreased attention spans, addiction, and higher levels of anxiety and depression. It's time to take a stand and prioritize the well-being of our tamariki and rangatahi.
Lets turn these stats around
Which one are you?
'Click'
What's the deal with the sheep in sunnies?
At the start of 2024, as we examined the research on how smartphones and social media impact youth, it seemed as though everyone was blindly heading towards a dangerous cliff edge. The growing evidence revealed the depth of the global mental health crisis affecting our young people.
We felt a strong urge to rebel and resist the normalization of increasing anxiety, depression, attention issues, and other serious consequences for our families.
That’s why our mascot embodies the spirit of the rebel sheep.
Join us...
And be that rebel sheep...Baa
'Click'
So what's the mission?
Our mission is to shift the cultural norm of which we are giving access to smartphones, and to challenge the growing influence of social media on youth.
We aim to do this by:
Presentations:
to raise awareness to as many parents as possible across the country
