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Parent urges Webster schools to promote 'Wait Till Eighth' smartphone‑delay initiative
Summary
A parent and former student, Sarah Engel, asked the board to help expand awareness of the 'Wait till Eighth' initiative, said she can provide materials and suggested the district use newsletters or email to start a parent–district collaboration on delaying smartphone adoption.
Sarah Engel, a parent and former Webster student, used the visitor speaking time at the Oct. 14 board meeting to ask the district to increase awareness and create space for conversation about the Wait Till Eighth initiative.
"My name is Sarah Engel. I am a parent within the district," she said, and described the initiative as a community‑level effort to delay smartphone adoption until eighth grade. Engel said the idea traces to research including discussion generated by books such as The Anxious Generation and work by Jonathan Haidt, and she offered handouts and a QR code linking to more information.
Engel said the initiative often succeeds where many people in a community know about it and suggested the district could provide newsletters or email space to help expand the conversation and build a parent–school collaboration. She said her background in public health informs her interest in upstream prevention and early intervention.
The board listened during the public comment period; no formal action was taken during the meeting on the initiative."
