Communities in Action

The Generation Alpha Movement

Free From Phones

The Gen Alpha Movement is a group of parents committed to delaying smartphones and social media for their children located in St. Albert, Alberta, and surrounding areas. It began as a small group of moms who met weekly at their daughters’ dance class. In the waiting room of that dance studio, they were given the gift of time. Uninterrupted time, where they could chat about and connect over a variety of topics.

From teaching to nursing, science, and project leadership, we are passionate and deeply committed to our children and making positive changes in our community. We were all noticing the effects of a “phone-based childhood” personally and professionally.

The subject of smartphones and social media continued to come up. We discussed trends in the decline in mental health, exposure to inappropriate content, increase in sextortion, loss of time outside in nature, and how young children were getting personal devices. We began to do more research.

After watching Childhood 2.0, reading The Anxious Generation by Johnathan Haidt, and listening to podcasts such as Scrolling to Death, we felt compelled to raise awareness in our community about the call to delay smartphones and social media until an appropriate age.

We are now committed to growing our group by offering parent sessions, providing school rep support, and building local communities of like-minded families committed to delaying smartphones and social media by following Johnathan Haidt’s new norms.

We are passionate about supporting and working alongside Unplugged Canada. This is an incredibly important cause. We believe that if we all work together, we can restore a play-based childhood with real-life connections, improving the mental health, academic success, and physical well-being of children across Canada.

The Gen Alpha Team Hilarie, Jyll, Kirsten, Katryna, Kate, and Sydney

Past Events

Hillcrest Community School presents:

Unplugged: Waiting for Smartphones