Dodgers Delay Newsletter

January 2026

We have been busy reading and researching the past month! Our new favorite book is The Digital Delusion: How Classroom Technology Harms Our Kids’ Learning - And How to Help Them Thrive Again by Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath. We had the opportunity to virtually attend a book talk with Dr. Horvath and ask him pointed questions about our community. It was very insightful and reinforced our beliefs about the overuse of edtech in our schools. Dr. Horvath shared that his book is being pursued by major publishers and may be pulled from the shelves for a few months, so if you’re interested, order now!

Last week, there was a Senate Hearing on the Impact of Technology on America’s Youth. The below experts shared their research that supports how harmful cell phones and edtech are to America’s youth. It’s two hours well spent to really understand the depth and complicated nature of this topic.

• Dr. Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University

• Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, Director, LME Global

• Emily Cherkin, Author and Founder of The Screentime Consultant

• Dr. Jenny Radesky, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Michigan Medical School

Please share and continue to spread the word so that as a community we can DELAY together!

DELAY access to fully-loaded smartphones

DELAY access to social media

DELAY unfettered access to the internet

For more info, visit our new website www.dodgersdelay.com or email us at dodgersdelay@gmail.com.

We are beginning to plan for some spring events.

Our group is growing! We realize in order to accomplish all of our goals, we should create committees. Please reach out to us if you’d like to join one of the following committees or have other areas you’d like to help out:

-Let Grow/Creativity and Free Play - host play clubs, create format for play clubs (already laid out on Let Grow’s website)

-Spring Event (TBD)

-Marketing

-Ed Tech/Screens in Schools - focus on mindful use of tech in classrooms

-Artificial Intelligence - stay up to date on research, national and international policies and lawsuits, focus on AI policies in schools

-High School engagement and support

-Book Club - The Digital Delusion for adults and/or The Amazing Generation for kids

-Political Advocacy

■ Does your child have a new device? Have you added parental controls? Common Sense Media created Parents' Ultimate Guide to Parental Controls - Do you need parental controls? What are the options? Do they really work? Here's everything you need to know about the wide array of parental control solutions, from OS settings to monitoring apps to network hardware.

■ Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation, has released his book geared to children ages 9+, The Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-Filled World. This is a must-read for all kids (and parents!) to share the risks of too much digital use, but more importantly to share the benefits to living a fulfilling and enriching life engaged in meaningful activity and positive social experiences. Our children have read it and appreciated and understood the message.

As we focus on the subject of edtech in schools, a few of us from Dodgers Delay spoke at our recent Board of Education meeting (minute 45 starts our public comments), some from personal experience and some representing Dodgers Delay. We are using our voice to represent the many concerns shared to us by our members, but it’s not enough. If you have concerns, we encourage you to do the same. Advocacy and partnership with the schools are an essential piece to our children’s education.

We are so happy that New Jersey passed a Bell-to-Bell Cell Phone Ban in Schools starting next year. This means that all children at every grade level will have the opportunity to learn in schools without access to their smart devices and their many distractions throughout the school day.

“As parents, we understand our children’s brain development happens through mirroring. If we expect our children to limit their screen time, it has to start with us, leading by example. Development teaches us that our children will learn by what we do, not by what we say. Learning to model the behavior we wish to see in our children is one of the hardest but most essential aspects of parenting. It’s helpful to know that many parents in our community share similar values.”

-Parent of elementary and pre-school students

We’d love to hear from you! Please email us to share your story.

■ Click here for 20 Snow Activities the Whole Family Will Enjoy This Winter

■ Have your kids grab a few friends and see if they can work together in an hour to escape from the Madison Escape Room! There are lots of options for different levels and group sizes.

■ Saturday, February, 28th is Mac n Cheese Mayhem Fest at the Morristown Armory. Can you think of a better way to spend the day than trying different variations of mac and cheese? Everyone’s favorite comfort food! This is an event that is fun for the entire family with many activities including face painting, knockerball, petting zoo, hatchet throwing & beer, sangria and margarita garden, vendors, and more. Pre-purchase tickets.

Email us with your creative and fun ideas to share!

“The risks of AI in schools outweigh the benefits”

-NPR article, January 14, 2026

“Digital Ecosystems, Children, and Adolescents: Policy Statement”

-American Academy of Pediatrics updated Policy Statement, January 20, 2026