Cobb County parents unite in pledge to keep smartphones away from kids until 8th grade

Parents in Cobb County are banding together, pledging to wait until their child is in 8th grade before getting them a smartphone.

“We have put age limits on everything [else] and I think we are a little behind on technology,” parent Haley Eby Lowe told Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins.

The “Wait until 8th” Campaign began a few years ago in Texas but is now gaining a lot of traction on social media among parents in the metro Atlanta area. This comes after the PTA Executive Committee at Timber Ridge Elementary School all elected to sign the petition.

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“There is not a parent in the world who says, I wish I had given them a phone sooner,” said Timber Ridge Elementary Co-President Kelly Hall.

Cobb County parents are now rallying together to support not only one another but most importantly, the welfare of their children.

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“If I don’t have to worry about my son trying to keep up with ‘the Jones’ at school, that makes all of our jobs as parents a little easier.”

The “Wait Until 8th” Campaign is trending among parents at schools like Timber Ridge and Mt. Bethel Elementary, electing to wait until their child is in 8th grade before giving them access to their own smartphone.

Like the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Many parents are realizing that advocating and protecting their children is something they cannot do alone.

“Suicide is the second leading cause of death in children,” Titania Jordan, Chief Parenting Officer at Bark Technologies told Channel 2 Action News .

While some parents are taking the pledge early , other parents who have already bought into the technology still have the option to dial it back with the Bark phone’s technology .

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