#HOLDthephone

#HOLD the phone is a NZ-wide campaign, aimed at challenging the culture of giving kids smartphones before high school.

Over the past few years, we have been advocating for systemic change to address children’s access to illegal sexual content online. Through our petition, lobbying, research, and conversations with parents, officials, schools, and tech companies, we’re even more convinced that keeping kids safe requires a society-wide response.

Primary prevention, alongside legislative change, is key—starting with keeping kids off smartphones.

By giving children independent access to the unregulated internet, social media, and gaming platforms, we’re exposing them to real risks. Sadly, the statistics are only getting worse in NZ.

We know some parents consider buying phones over summer in preparation for the new school year; this a crucial time to pause and reflect and to consider delaying a bit longer.

We have this same juggle that you have as parents with kids heading into intermediate and high school. We’re delaying smartphones because we’ve seen the data and we want better for them. In all our workshops, we’ve never heard a parent say, “I wish we’d given our child a phone earlier”.

Parenting with tech is hard, but together we can Hold the Phone and shift the statistics for Kiwi kids. Get on board, share on your socials, and have convos with your mates about delaying phones until high school.