An alternative phone fair and parent workshop attracted nearly 70 families to Oxford Elementary School on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026.
The event was hosted by Berkeley Unplugged, a parent and educator group founded in 2026, which advocates for a more deliberate and informed approach to the use of technology for children. In addition, Berkeley Unplugged advocates for stronger technology policies in Berkeley schools.
“Parents are all struggling with similar issues and problem solving seemed easier and more comforting to do together,” Annie Wolfson, an event organizer and member of Berkeley Unplugged, said.
The first part of the evening involved a fair featuring alternative smartphone options, meant to help parents navigate social media and screen time usage with their children. “There’s this fear that the technology is changing so fast, and we are not able to stay on top of it to fully understand the impact that it’s going to have on the human race, much less kids and their own development,” Shannon Behrman, another event organizer and Berkeley Unified School District parent, said.
Eeva Teytelman, a BHS junior, had a flip phone from fifth to eighth grade. While she found it useful for staying in touch with her parents while also reducing screentime, she would advise parents against setting very harsh restrictions, as that would encourage kids to use their phones even more. “Phone use should be minimized, but parents should also teach their children about healthy phone use,” Teytelman said.
Washington Elementary School’s club More Dreams, Less Screens featured a stand with information and resources, as well as branded pencils and stickers. The club was started by a group of fifth graders in the fall of 2026, with the goal of preventing unhealthy technology use in schools. “Kids aren’t communicating anymore,” Brooke Elliott, a fifth grader at Washington and the club’s co-founder, said, “They get distracted and sneak screen time.”
Following the fair was a workshop and Q&A section, hosted by Reichi Lee, a digital wellness educator, and Dr. Devika Bhushan, a pediatrician and public health leader. One aspect addressed was the prospective health associations with excessive social media use, like depression, eating disorders, and sleep disturbances, as well as the addictive nature of social media.
Multiple research studies on the effects of unchecked phone and social media use on children and teens’ concerning their mental and physical health were referenced. “There was one really interesting study that showed for every additional hour of screen time, looking a whole year later, the quantity and quality of nutritionality was actually decreased,” Bhushan said during the presentation. Another finding referenced during the workshop was the fact that lower screen use on the part of the parents directly correlated with improved phone habits for youth.
A key point in Lee’s presentation was the importance of comparing the family’s needs with what device would best fit those needs. “What I’ve noticed is that there’s often sort of a mismatch between the purpose and the device that their kid actually has,” Lee said, citing safety, communication, and entertainment as some of the common reasons parents consider a phone for their child. “But getting them a smartphone, it goes way sort of beyond that particular purpose,” Lee said.
During the Q&A section, parents had an opportunity to share their personal experiences with kids and technology. Many discussed their own struggles with their kids’ technology use, such as figuring out parental controls. “While all of us want our kids to have a healthy relationship with technology, it seems like the technology now is so overwhelming and it’s very hard to really achieve a balance with it,” Vandana Balakrishnan, a founder of Berkeley Unplugged and an organizer of the event, said.
“We want kids to feel connected and to get a voice in what matters to them,” Zadie Behrman, a Washington fifth grader and co-founder of More Dreams, Less Screens, said.
Parents who’ve gone through a similar experience shared advice on keeping their kids safe while also allowing them to benefit from technology. “It wasn’t just advice coming from the speakers, but it was from the parents in the audience. There was this collective wisdom that emerged,” Behrman said, “That was honestly the most magical part of the whole event.”
The event provided a safe space for Berkeley parents to share concerns and offer support, not only supplying valuable information and resources, but also uniting the community in a common dilemma. “It’s a nationwide movement for families and their schools to come together aligned around what is safe and healthy technology use,” Lee said, “We’re very proud to be part of this movement, and hope that other people will join us.”