Wait Until 8th?: Mothers' decision-making and management of children's smartphones in the United States
A Research Brief | MediaEd Insights | Pause2MAP Edition | April 2026
Written by Susannah Stern
Original Article: Stern, S. R. (2025). Wait Until 8th?: Mothers’ decision-making and management of children’s smartphones in the United States. Journal of Children and Media, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2025.2567278
In recent years, the question of when to give children smartphones has become one of the most salient topics in conversations about youth and media. Under the premise that smartphones introduce risk and threaten core childhood experiences, organizations like Wait Until 8th encourage families to collectively pledge to delay giving their children smartphones until a specific age or grade. While WU8 appear to be the most popular in the U.S., similar initiatives have taken root in various parts of the United States (e.g., OK to Delay in Connecticut, Kids IRL in Marin, California) and around the world (e.g., Take the Pledge and Smartfree Childhood in the United Kingdom; Wait Mate in Australia; Adolescence Free of Mobile Phones in Spain). Together, these initiatives underscore the growing popularity of smartphone delay as a collective approach to youth and media concerns.
Despite this growing momentum, we still know surprisingly little about what participation in these movements actually looks like for families. To fill this gap, in a recent study I interviewed 20 mothers whose families were first introduced to Wait Until 8th in 2018, when they had children in 3rd grade in a U.S. elementary school. I wanted to understand why some families decided to pledge to wait until 8th grade to give their kids smartphones, and why others did not. I also wanted to understand what happened over the years for both pledgers and non-pledgers. How many pledging families made it to 8th grade before giving their kids phones? What actually happened in each of their families over time, as they navigated smartphones’ absence, entry and eventual existence in their kids’ lives?
What I learned complicates the idea that there is a single “right” timeline for smartphone adoption.
Some parents followed the pledge closely, delaying smartphones until eighth grade or beyond. Others chose to introduce phones earlier, but typically in highly modified forms, with stripped-down features, limited apps, and no social media. Still others delayed certain aspects of smartphone use while allowing others. For these reasons, “having a smartphone” meant very different things across these families.
This variability points to a larger issue that I think media literacy educators are especially well positioned to address: the term smartphone is too clunky for many conversations and debates. It suggests a singular object, when in reality it is a highly configurable device with a variety of affordances that families actively shape.
Just as important, my study indicated that the decision about when to get a smartphone itself was rarely a one-time event. Parents did not simply decide when to give a phone and move on. Instead, they described an ongoing process of communication, adjustment, and reevaluation based on their kid’s development and social context. And this happened before and after a device entered their child’s life.
In fact, one of the most consistent patterns I observed was that the period before smartphone acquisition often became a critical window for media education. Parents used this time to talk with their children about expectations, values, and digital life more broadly. In my work, I’ve begun to think of this as a form of “avoidance mediation.” By this term, I do not mean a rejection of technology, but rather a strategy that parents can use that focuses on reflection and preparation before getting a device or using a platform.
Avoidance mediation doesn’t replace other forms of mediation, it just happens earlier. For example, in the families I studied, once children had smartphones, parents continued to negotiate rules, revisit earlier conversations, and adapt to new situations. The work of mediation did not end when the device arrived; if anything, it became more complex.
This is where I think the idea of collective action, while appealing, becomes more complicated in practice. Many parents were drawn to Wait Until 8th and the idea of making decisions about smartphones together, and some found real value in the validation and clarity that the pledge provided. However, families ultimately made decisions based on their own children, contexts, and needs. The collective 8th grade timeline was difficult to sustain when those realities diverged.
My findings and personal experience as a mother of three teenagers suggest that rather than focusing on a specific age or grade for smartphone access, we might find more promise in building shared norms around the conversations families have before and after children acquire them. What would it look like to treat pre-acquisition conversations as a collective practice? To normalize ongoing dialogue between parents and children about digital media experiences and expectations? To create opportunities and structure for young people themselves to reflect on their hopes for smartphones and social media before they use them, and their joys and struggles and perceptions after they have them?
This line of thinking aligns closely with the approach media literacy educators have advocated for decades. Our role is to support families and young people as they navigate evolving decisions, rather than prescribe a single “correct” pathway or age. We can reinforce that media use is not a static choice, but a dynamic process shaped by communication, context, and change. And we can offer parents resources that encourage thoughtful mediation, ongoing dialogue, and deliberate renegotiation as technologies evolve and children grow.
MediaEd Insights - April 2026 - Pause2MAP
Opening Essay: The Waiting Game Isn't Enough: A Plea for Proactive Digital Wellness by Michelle Hirschy
Case Study: Student-Led Media Literacy Legislation in California by Elise Choi
Curriculum Review: How Pause2MAP Compares by Lucas Jacob
Research Brief: Wait Until 8th?: Mothers' decision-making and management of children's smartphones in the United States by Susannah Stern
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