is a social movement powered
by collective action in service to
mental health and human
connection.
Yarmouth Slow Tech
Mission & Vision
We’re founded on the growing data that shows children and teens’ developing brains and bodies are
frequently harmed by what we’ve collectively accepted as normal technology use–until now.
We believe we can be each other’s answer to the overwhelm. And be better for it.
Yarmouth Slow Tech is a grassroots movement promoting informed and intentional use of technology; progressive
independence for kids and teens; and real-world social experiences to cultivate mental wellness through community support
and collective action. YST offers education, conversation, and play opportunities (for both youth and adults) to foster prosocial
behavior; sharing a vision of community where families flourish, technology supports human connection, and people of all
ages know they matter: right here, right now, as they are.
Yarmouth, Maine
Our mission
is to empower Yarmouth citizens to consider our relationships to technology, ourselves and each other; to provide the
resources, discussions and community needed to make informed, deliberate choices about the presence of tech in our daily
lives; and to prioritize free play, socialization and progressive independence for kids and teens; fostering the durable
relationships and habits of mind that help individuals, families and communities flourish.
Our vision
is to be a model for prosocial behavior in a community that has the resources children, teens, and adults need to create healthy,
fulfilling, and socially integrated lives;
a community where technology plays a supporting role to human connection;
a community where all people know that they matter right here, right now, as they are.
~
(this is a living document)
If you‘re writing a similar Mission & Vision statement, we‘re happy to share the questions we used to hone language and objectives before beginning a three-month draft and review process-–a process that‘s
been helpful in surfacing valuable insights, conversations and connections. While we‘ve given permission to mission-aligned organizations to adapt portions of our work for their own purposes, we appreciate
being in touch if you‘d like to do the same: chelsea@yarmouthslowtech.org
Thank you!
keeping heads up since 2024
New eras ask for new questions.
And we’re making space for conversation. Starting with:
What conditions do kids, teens, adults–and even communities–
need to thrive in the Digital Age?
Tech is here to stay; that’s not
to say current habits should.
We’re interested in:
Reassessing our habits and use of
technology to ensure that tech
serves us, not the other way
around; informing ourselves ;
preparing, educating, and
sometimes safeguarding kids and
teens during vulnerable periods of
brain, body, and social
development; essentially a more
scaffolded, informed and
intentional oboard to the internet
for young people. Also:
Understanding more about the
upsides of (intentional) tech use
for kids, teens and families.
Potentially:
Delaying smartphones until high
school (or beyond), waiting to use
social media until age 16 (or later),
supporting smartphone-free
schools, shifting social norms
around when/how phones are
used when other people are
present; reflecting on our own
tech habits and how they intersect
with our values--and changing as
necessary; considering new tech
and smartphone alternatives;
asking legislators to hold tech
companies to higher standards;
and more.
Techquilibrium &
New Norms
What we know:
Kids need play, risk,
responsibility & independence
for healthy growth.
We’re interested in:
Giving kids more opportunities for
all of these things; building adult
confidence in kids’ autonomy;
creating more spaces/scenarios
that are supportive for teens too;
investigating the opportunity costs
of current screen use, filling gaps
in social learning opportunities and
socializing these ideas. Making
more room for things like
boredom, daydreaming, free play,
exploration and risk--which
Nature is great at providing.
Potentially:
Changing norms around the age at
which kids do things such as bake,
bike alone, make purchases in a
store, learn to whittle, adventure
with their friends, pet sit,etc;
educating the public about real
risks and even laws; creating more
experiences and spaces that kids
and teens are welcome in without
(necessarily) spending money,
expanding play opportunities
outdoors; asking good questions
about what’s possible with the
resources we already have--used in
novel ways. What DO we want
childhood, teenage years,
parenting--LIFE--to be about?
- Play-based
- Childhood
Otherwise known as:
LIFE, enlarged
We’re interested in:
How an individual’s changes make changes more possible for others, how collective actions lower pressures and barriers while enhancing community. How people come to know that they matter and belong.
Potentially:
Developing digital agency: Using tech to free our time, not drain it; resource sharing and offering more opportunities for education, support, and socialization--plus new ways of being--that take pressures off kids and teens as well as adults, allowing them to find their own sense of play too.; modeling friendship and how to treat strangers as future friends, what the real world and real social networks have to offer. Being open and reflective about what we discover along the way.
And when tech is necessary in another’s presence: Narrate, explain the why, and repair as needed. We’re all human.
Real-World
Relief, Fun,
Responsibility
- & Connection
3 ideas worth exploring
a further question:
Changing behaviors, holding boundaries and stepping outside of
comfort zones are hard things to do. . .
What can we offer along the way to make these things easier, more
attractive, and more sustainable for more people?
Thanks, your interest will help us determine what to prioritize!
All films are family-friendly and Screenagers specifically suggests bringing kids to their screenings.
Discussion time would follow any film selected.
HAPPENINGS
WAIT UNTIL 8th* GATHERINGS - by class year - ONGOING!
Families who have signed the Wait Until 8th Pledge are on the
class ambassadors’ invite list for events, but you’re also
welcome to reach out to an ambassador if you’d like to host!
Hosting can be as simple as putting out a date and time to
rendezvous in the park for all-ages free-play or putting on a
potluck at your home (adults-only is also an option!) Each class
year might do it a bit differently, gather by school, or with the
full mixed-age group!
*If you’re pledge-curious or are delaying smartphone use until
completing 8th grade and would like to socialize with other
families committed to the same, please feel free to reach out
to your class ambassadors as well!
FALL EVENTS
VALUES DISCOVERY & DIGITAL FLOURISHING - DATE TBD
Please add your name and evening preferences to
this interest list. Based on response, more than one
date may be offered.
When did you last have the time, space, guidance (or quiet?) to
consider your personal values? How about in the context of
parenting? Or more specifically: Parenting in the Digital Age?
Our values—a combination of standards, principles, virtues and
ideals—guide judgement and decision-making across all
domains of life. The act of identifying values reminds us of how
we want to live, how we want to show up for others, and prompts
us to ask how we can create the conditions that best support
living our values—at home and beyond.
In the context of parenting, discovering and finding clarity about
values can be a useful tool for cross-checking decisions and
surfacing the kind of conversations we want to have. In this
context we’re asking: How do our current habits and tech use
align with our values? And what might a personal model of
values-aligned Digital Flourishing look like?
Participants will leave more equipped to communicate how and
why personal tech choices, changes, or boundaries matter to
them, with an understanding of some ways to help loved ones
discover the same for themselves.
Snacks and refreshments will be served during social time.
Free and open to parents & caregivers in Yarmouth with RSVP.
Biking: Let’s Tour Yarmouth! is a bike-and-play club, an all-
access pass to awesome outdoor spaces that kids are free to
explore on the regular–they just might not know about them
yet! For five Wednesdays, we’ll set out from Y.E.S. across
pavement and paths to explore parks and public spaces by
bike. When we get to our mystery destination: Free time!
Fostering a sense of independence through exploration and
connection through adventure, kids will enjoy mixed-age play
at our town’s natural playgrounds until parent pickup. A
reminder email will be sent the night before each adventure
with our next-day coordinates!
Participants must have proficiency in biking with their
backpacks/school supplies for .5 miles at most. Well-fitting
helmets, water bottles and extra snacks are a must. The first
session will be the shortest trip from Y.E.S. to ensure safety skills
and bikes are all in tune. Inclement weather may be a reason
for canceling/rescheduling our trips.
This program was created in collaboration with Yarmouth Slow
Tech. For more information about this initiative visit:
yarmouthslowtech.org
Instructor: Damaris Drummond
PEDAL-TO-PLAY KIDS BIKE PROGRAM with YCS - FALL - FULL!
FILM SCREENING
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE
& DISCUSS IN COMMUNITY?
or
or
Youth Mental Health in the Digital Age
something else?
Check OUT THE TRAILERS
and more happenings - coming soon!