Why Smart Kids Need Dumb Phones

by Ariella Rogge on May 08

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Coming to Sanborn from the Yale School of Nursing, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner MOLLY RADIS BLACKBURN (HT Staff 14-15)–married to former long-time Big Spring, HTOEC and year round COEC staff member, JACKSON BLACKBURN (BS Staff 11-16; HTOEC 11-16; COEC 13-16)–is on a mission: to educate parents about the impact of socialhttps://www.sanbornwesterncamps.com/blog/2024/4/camp-is-the-antidote) media on the mental health of teens.

She has created a “Parent Pledge” and the infographic below in hopes of demonstrating to school communities (she is currently working as a school nurse) that parents are willing to consider delaying smart phone adoption for children and teens until high school, so schools can feel more empowered to keep phones out of classrooms.

From Molly: We (Jackson and I) think it’s important for parents to buy into Jonathan Haidt’s new screen time norms when their children are young. I work in elementary schools and can tell you that many 3rd, 4th and 5th graders have smart phones. Jackson works with middle schoolers and states that the majority of student social conflicts stem from social media.

Since we also loved Jonathan Haidt’s new book, and we know the value of being fully unplugged and completely phone free at summer camp, we wanted to share Molly’s MoveOn based Parent Pledge with plenty of like-minded, thoughtful camp parents and alums.

Great work, Molly!

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Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two teenage sons, Lairden and Karsten.