Newsletter #06 May 2026
Hello Friends!
April was a whirlwind and we are now tumbling into May at full speed!
From unplugging with you all at Woo-Woo, to having an evening of learning together at Sunnyside Environmental School, we’ve been meeting more of you than we ever have before. April was a month jam packed full of connection with our community and our reason for being, ALL OF YOU!
Above: Doreen Dodgen-Magee and OR Unplugged co-founder Jody Scheer (and family) play at Unplug With Us. Photo by Bree Myers.
From left to right - Simcha Einhorn, Megan Orton, Kathy Masarie, and Doreen Dodgen-Magee. Photo by Bree Myers.
It seems like May will have plenty more connection, collective action, and change in store!
This spring has been our busiest time for events yet and we still have a few more on the docket before summer hits.
Join us tomorrow night for the second part of our two part series: Brain Science, Learning, and Technology - A virtual community workshop featuring Jared Cooney Horvath's talk at Sunnyside Environmental School.
Watch Jared’s talk here (we filmed this pivotal talk just for OR Unplugged subscribers like you!) and join us tomorrow night to engage with other community members and coalition leads across the state. This community round table will be facilitated by TTSD Safe Tech Advocates’ Lindsey Voorhees.
Reserve your spot here.
Later this month we are thrilled to be hosting a screening and panel discussion of Your Attention Please - a new documentary on what happens when attention becomes one of the most valuable commodities in the global economy.
Join us on Monday, May 18th from 5:30 to 8:30pm at McMenamins Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan Street. Portland, OR 97209) for a special screening of the film and a panel discussion following featuring Kristen Bride, Senator Lisa Reynolds MD, Kathy Masarie MD, Sara Robin, and Laura Marquez-Garrett moderated by Brittney Mast (@momsfororegon).
Ahead of this screening, Your Attention Please made its world premiere at the 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival, one of the world’s leading festivals for documentary and cultural storytelling before going on to be featured at film festivals nationwide.
Your Attention Please has not been widely released and this screening is an exclusive early screening ahead of any theatrical release.
Come learn what it means to regain power over your own attention and reclaim it from today’s tech giants.
Tickets are moving fast, reserve your spot now!
This screening would not be possible without the generous support and collaboration of The Carson J. Bride Effect and the Institute for Families & Technology.
Interested in volunteering for this event? Email us here.
Are events less your speed but you love to read? We have good news!
Our book club is in full swing and we’ve added an extra meeting!
Join us on the following Fridays to discuss Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child’s Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods by Michaleen Doucleff! Doucleff offers readers a five-step guide to raising confident, happy kids while breaking the cycle of overdependence on screens and other sources of unnaturally high dopamine.
Meetings will be held every other Friday at 10am PST (1pm EST).
RSVP below.
May 8th - Chapters 2-3
May 22nd - Chapters 4-5
June 5th - Chapter 6 + How to Build Sanctuaries
June 19th- Epilogue and where we go from here.
Big Deal Nationally:
We are loving the Phone-Free Schools State Report Card as a tool to see where progress is being make across the nation.
Explore amazing visual aids, model legislation, and blueprints for implementation.
You can see how your state measures up and where there is room to grow!
Check out the tool here.
Big Deal Locally:
Bend/La Pine - Big things are happening over in the Bend-La Pine School District! Resolution 2013 has been passed. What was particularly impressive was the testimony given by a passionate school board member, Vice Chair Amy Tatom herself, that really tipped the board over.
The resolution directs the district to review the use of all technology, websites and apps, create standards for tech use at different grade levels and remove “non-evidence-based” technology from devices. It also instructs the district to ensure screen time is limited to educational purposes only, that it promotes reading and writing that is non-screen-based “to the greatest extent possible” and enhances the use of parent and district controls over screen time.
This is a super heartening step in the right direction that wouldn’t have happened without the fierce advocacy of Natalie Houston, an advocate and clinical mental health counselor in Bend, Oregon.
What Natalie accomplished is something you can do in your district!
And in addition, opting your child out can make a tangible impact in your district and on your child (and their friends and fellow students)!
Here are some of our favorite tools and guides for evaluating your child’s school and opting out.
Emily Cherkin’s Opting Out of EdTech Webinar
Jill Coleman’s roadmap for getting AI out of schools
Emily Cherkin’s I Refused the School-Issued Chromebook for My Middle-Schooler. You Can Too. Here's How.
Jared Cooney Horvath’s talk at Sunnyside Environmental School in April - Brain Science, Learning, and Technology
Letter Template: For Parents to Inform Schools of the FTC Amicus Brief Finding
We also encourage you to sign our Letter of Legislative Support to speak up for the changes you want made!
Did you like our yellow t-shirts at Jared’s pivotal talk on brain science and learning? You can wear one too (and watch the talk here)! We’re starting a push for aligned groups and organizations to wear yellow for visibility at school board meetings and beyond. Interested in shirts for your coalition or group? Email us at orunplugged@proton.me
Our coalitions have been busy this month!
In April we watched as a number of coalitions honed their missions and jumped in head first!
Sherwood - Daniel (Analog Alpha) will be on OPB’s Think Out Loud with our very own Kathy Masarie tomorrow May 7th at noon!
Oregon City - Jolene took off running with Together for Thoughtful Technology: A West Linn Wilsonville SD Coalition. She is putting together an education night for parents in her district and is knocking it out of the park!
Tigard/Tualatin - Lindsey V. has lent an invaluable hand in organizing over 160+ parents in the TTSD and being a wealth of knowledge for us here at OR Unplugged - her organization skills and drive are unmatched! If you’re in the Tigard Tualatin SD and want to connect, you can find the TTSD Safe Technology Advocates here and here. Lindsey was also instrumental in bringing TTSD board members to Jared’s talk two weeks ago! Here is an amazing reflection from TTSD board member Crystal Weston. Thank you Lindsey and thank you Crystal!
Lake Oswego - Dominique and Poonam from Lake Oswego Parents for Responsible Technology have been pounding the pavement, setting up invaluable structures within their organization, and uniting parents in the fight for safe, effective, and responsible edtech in their schools! Are you in Lake Oswego? Connect with Dominique and Poonam here.
Beaverton - Libby and the BSD Safe Tech Coalition have grown exponentially this past month - jumping from 200 to over 700 signatures on their petition! They have also been doing an excellent job connecting individually with BSD school board members about current usage of edtech. You can join them by signing their petition here or joining their Facebook group here.
What are you getting up to in your coalitions? What projects are on the docket? What changes are you making? Tell us here and we can feature you in our June newsletter!
Don’t have a coalition in your area? Here’s how to start one from PA Unplugged’s Kelly March and Kristin Beddard at this week’s Distraction Free Schools Policy Project’s Community of Practice Call - our takeaway? You have to be patient, nothing happens overnight.
Kathy’s Pick:
Kathy says-
I am sharing this because it touched me deeply. I am giving too much of "my one wild and precious life" (Mary Oliver) to time on my phone/computer, even if most of it is in service of protecting kids from harms of screens. I know better, but I am still not DOING BETTER.
My granddaughter shared the video with me after her 4th grade teacher, Jeremy, showed it to her whole class. Her school (Sunnyside Environmental School) in Portland, hosted a talk with OR Unplugged by neuroscientist, Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath (author of the Digital Delusion) about the science of learning and what is required for kids to actually learn and gain knowledge for their futures. Example after example, it became clear why computers cannot do the job except for a few situations. Kids need empathetic, caring, and responsive teachers.
The talk "lit a fire" in the teachers who are so excited to go back to actually teaching without internet interference. I am using this spark to prioritize what I do want in my life. First sleep, then exercise/nature, time with friends, keeping a little notebook in my pocket to jot down ideas, and then doing the work of OR Unplugged to protect our precious kids. It is really helping me love my life again.
Jody’s Pick:
Persuasive Technology - How does technology use design to influence my behavior? from the Center for Humane Technology
Jody says-
Every wonder why you can't get off the internet? Have you ever found yourself scrolling into the wee hours of the night, when you have an important test or work project due the next day? You are experiencing the results of "persuasive design" - strategies that Big Tech uses to capture your attention on apps that keep you online longer than you might like. Persuasive design taps into our brain's dopamine reward system to create craving and addictive behaviors. Unfortunately, this does not create joy. Learn about persuasive design at the link above.
Megan’s Pick:
The surprising origin of 4 features that superglue kids - and adults - to screens by Michaeleen Doucleff
Megan says-
We often hear about tech companies adding Persuasive Design to their products to make them addictive, but we hear a lot less about exactly how they do it. This fantastic article from Dopamine Kids author Michaleen Doucleff highlights four common Persuasive Design tricks that “superglue” kids (and adults) to their screens. After reading this article, I was able to immediately spot these addictive elements in some of the apps I use, which allowed me to notice the effect they had on me. This article is a great conversation starter for parents and their tweens and teens, and a perfect way for families to learn to spot the Persuasive Design tricks that are all around them!
Simcha’s Pick:
Spending some time with yourself
Simcha says-
This has been a particularly busy season at OR Unplugged and I do not have a pick this month in the traditional sense beyond the suggestion of taking time with yourself. Leave your phone at home and go on a walk with no destination. Think about something you’ve been really wanting to do and lay out the steps to make it happen. Try a new activity or return to a familiar one, cook something and take your time with all the steps, sit outside and feel the sun on your face. So often it’s easy to lose what little downtime we have getting lost in scrolling because it feels like the friction of doing something else is insurmountable (I am guilty of this!) but the sooner we start pushing through that friction, the sooner we get to enjoy the reward of spending time with ourselves and others untethered from the things that exhaust us in the first place. For me, this is taking a ceramics class at the Multnomah Art Center, going on big walks just to see how far I can go and where I end up, and being present with my cat and hanging out with her.
OR Unplugged is a non-profit organization run almost entirely by volunteers. Your donations and volunteer time both support creating & distributing resources, putting on events, doing outreach, facilitating workshops, and much much more. You can help us show up for our community and build a better future for our kids. Any support is welcome and appreciated. You can donate here and learn more about volunteering here.
Comments, queries, or concerns? You can reach us 24/7 (practically) at ORUnplugged@proton.me
Warmly and with gratitude,
the OR Unplugged team
Kathy, Jody, Megan, & Simcha
