Our Story

ReConnect Vermont formed in 2024 as a group of concerned parents of elementary and middle school students in the Jericho and Underhill communities. As our children prepare to join their peers at Mount Mansfield Union High School, we felt compelled to learn, discuss, and act on our concerns about smartphone and social media use for our kids - in partnership with other local parents who are going through the same thing.

What we believe: There is a growing body of research attributing significant increases in anxiety, depression, and self-harm to the rise and ubiquity of social media and cell phone addiction among our youth. Some parents and some schools are beginning to wake up to this, but not quickly enough. We can do more to prioritize a play based – not screen based – childhood.

By building a community of families who are making the decision to hold off on smartphone adoption, we can give our children the kind of childhood we experienced – one where kids get together on weekends, resolve challenges face to face, and live life in person!

In October 2024 we organized a Community Forum to inform parents about research, experiences, and initiatives related to smartphones and social media use. The forum featured a panel of speakers from our community, including medical professionals, an educator, student, detective, and State Representative who were all able to share their views on the effects of smartphones and social media on our youth. The forum was a huge success– we felt a lot of energy from community members around this issue, and interest in collective action to help our kids navigate this new world in ways that will make them safer, healthier, and happier. It’s clear that this is a growing, powerful movement in our community.

We look forward to continuing to build our ReConnect community with you, and finding ways to work together to bring about meaningful changes in our digital lives for the benefit of our kids, and future generations.

Our Mission:

Working with other parents, educators, and community leaders we seek to:

1. Educate parents and kids about smart phones and social media use and make the information available/accessible

2. Normalize a “phone-free” childhood outside of school

3. Realize a Phone-Free School policy at MMUUSD schools

4. Re-establish community activities face-to-face

What’s next for us?

• We’ll be continuing conversations with school administrators in our community to give support and offer recommendations as they look to implement stronger policies related to phones in schools and to discuss the curriculum related to media literacy.

• We hope to have another Community Forum on Kids, Smartphones and Social Media based in Richmond. Please get in touch if you’re a parent in Richmond and would like to help lead the charge!

• We’ll be planning opportunities for our kids to get together in real life to get in as much of that all-important play and social interaction that is so critical at this stage in their development. We hope to regularly post community events on our homepage!