Newsletter #09 August 2026
Hello Friends!
Where did the summer go?
Suddenly it’s August which means the leaves might be looking a little crisper, the wide-open days have an end in sight, and back-to-school is on our collective mind!
And with the transition into the school year there are a lot of unknowns in the mix - what will your child’s screen-use in the classroom look like this year? What new programs or products are they expected to use? And how do these things impact their learning and their experience of school?
If you have thoughts you want to share, we’d love to hear from you! Hop on in on our community thread on Four Norms and share where you’re at as we transition into crunchy leaves and homework yet again.
Wondering what Four Norms is? You may have received an email invitation from us in the last month to join us on Four Norms! Four Norms is our one-stop-shop for connection, community, and collaboration. Four Norms connects all of us (across the state!) and allows us to share resources, ask questions, and chat about what is coming up on a daily basis. From our book clubs to our office hours and favorite resources, Four Norms is the place to stay up to date on all things OR Unplugged on a more regular basis than our newsletter.
With school on the noggin, we’d love to share this wonderful series with you all that’s coming up this October:
The UnPluggEd Project is a collaborative national initiative from Smartphone Free Childhood US and Distraction Free Schools Policy Project that encourages schools and families across the country to embrace and lean into human connections and away from the distractions of technology. We invite families, administrators, educators, legislators to join for 1 to 5 days of leaning into human connections free of technology distractions!
Get UnPluggEd: October 5-9, 2026
To get more information and to register, click HERE
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Learn more at the DFSPP Community of Practice (COP) Call. The COP calls are an invaluable way to stay in the loop nationally on how these conversations around screens in schools are playing out from coast-to-coast.
Before October sneaks up though we have a few exciting events on the docket in August.
You can find us this Saturday, August 8th at the Wholesome Family Fest in North Clackamas Park (Area B). We’ll have exciting materials, new stickers, and friendly faces at our booth all day and a talk from our very own Megan Orton at 1pm. We can’t wait to see you there! But that’s not all!
Join us on Sunday, August 16th from 2-5pm for OR Unplugged Better Together: Meet & Play. Meet our volunteers, coalition leads, and the larger OR Unplugged team! We’ll have light snacks and childcare (for kids 3 and older) so bring the kiddos and let’s have some fun! You can find more information and RSVP here.
And a little down the line in November...
SAVE THE DATE for another essential lecture by the acclaimed Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath. Mark Monday, November 2nd on your calendar - you won’t want to miss this.
Legislative days are sneaking up and it’s all hands on deck to make the changes we need for Oregon’s kids! Join us on Wednesday, August 19th from 7:30-8:30pm for Legislative Days 101 lead by Ross Schwartzendruber and learn the ins and outs of how to advocate and show up in a legislative setting. RSVP here.
We are also excited to announce and offer that for fall legislative days (September 8-10) we will be doing carpools from the Portland Metro Area down to Salem. Want to carpool and join us in the capitol? Email us at hello@orunplugged.org and we can sort out the logistics.
Beyond the planning for what’s to come, we had a fabulous meeting with the Mom Mob this month. From AI to edtech, it is always such a pleasure to connect with legislators who want to better understand and serve their constituents. Building strong foundations with our legislators is both an honor and a joy as we continue to advocate in the legislative realm.
Our coalitions have been busy having fun in the sun and spending time with their families so the updates are few and far in-between! Circle back next month to see how the back to school season has been treating them and read below to see how TTSD and BSD have been getting ready for the school year ahead.
Beaverton - The coalition leads met with two more school board members last month, just leaving Dr. Tammy Carpenter and Dr. Karen Perez who we have not been able to schedule time with. We did hear from the new VP of the teacher's union, and we will meet with her this month!
Mayor Beaty has been invited to join the Hunt–Lee Mayor's Fellowship, a national program that brings together a select group of mayors to dive deeply into education policy.
Several of the themes within the fellowship—responsible use of technology in schools, digital equity, early childhood development, and the broader policy landscape shaping K–12 systems.We are hoping to work with her to give BSD safe education technology a voice, and host a town hall with her in the fall.
We are asking for 5 parents to attend the first school board meeting of the year on August 11 at 7PM at the district office. We want the district to understand this issue from every angle. Personal stories help. Our coalition leads are here to walk you through every step, and we can even help you craft and refine your statement if you want. Please join us in our goal of giving our kids the education they deserve! Public comment will open for the meeting on Friday, August 7. This first meeting with Dr. Smith is very important to voice the need for change before the school year starts! Dr. Smith is also hosting meet and greet events.
Tigard/Tualatin - The TTSD screens work group has completed their collaboration and will be delivering recommendations across seven specific points to the school board in a few weeks. We are hopeful that the board will act on the recommendations and perhaps even strengthen some of them, especially in light of (hopefully) upcoming state policy.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is how important it is to work to obtain at least one fully supportive Board Member to partner with parent coalition lead(s). Ideally two! There’s no way this work would’ve moved as quickly in TTSD, or be taken as seriously, if Board Director Weston hadn’t attended Horvath’s talk with me, and worked alongside me every step of the way. I am truly grateful for our partnership (and blossoming friendship)!
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 September newsletter.
Kathy’s Pick: The Lost Art of Hanging Out, a webinar by Let Grow in collaboration with the Balance Project and Block Party USA
Kathy Says - This webinar really called to me as we are getting amped up for school, BUT we are still in the “lazy days of summer.” Here are some inspiring ideas about turning those lazy days into easy, simple connecting times with others. We all long for a sense of belonging, especially our kids. AND, we can build independence and resiliency for our kids, while we are at it, by having them help us plan. Watch the webinar and read my recap and notes, there is so much there for us all to learn from!
Jody’s Pick: Why Did We Let Big Tech Take Over Education? by Sophie Winkleman, introduced by Jonathan Haidt
Jody Says - Sophie Winkleman is a British actress who has been sounding the alarm about the harms to learning from the Ed Tech takeover of schools publicly since 2023. Her compelling speech at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London a few weeks ago can be watched at this link, or read as a transcript here. Winkelman calls for an evidence-based rethinking of the role of technology in education, and credits in her speech examples of efforts, studies and advocacy throughout the world to create healthier relationships with digital technology for our school children. Her speech includes accolades to parent activists, Emily Cherkin and Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, among others. She offers helpful insights and an excellent summary of the dark side of Ed Tech and AI in our schools. Enjoy!
Megan’s Pick: Under the Influence by Nadia Maxwell
Megan Says - This new documentary series from New Zealand called Under The Influence is a must-see for parents! In 15 minute episodes, it covers social media, AI, the manosphere, porn, technoference, and so much more. Watching them with your teens is a great way to get tech conversations started too. Hats off to New Zealand for putting together such a wonderful resource for families!
Simcha’s Pick: We Are Losing the Ability to Discover What We Didn’t Know to Ask by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Simcha Says - This opinion piece hits the nail on the head for me on what the implications of wider AI-use look like beyond the tangible environmental and neural impacts. We no longer have to wonder or feel curious before reaching our conclusion. The loss of wonder feels ephemeral and yet hugely impactful in ways that we are already seeing. Where will we be years down the line if we continue to lose our curiosity and way of pondering? There is something to be said for taking the longer, more meandering path more often and getting a little lost along the way. I hope you can decide to take that more meandering path sometime soon and delight in the unexpected bits and pieces you might stumble upon in the process.
Amy’s Pick: Five Elementary Schoolers Show Just How Much Screen Time Varies Across PPS by Joanna Hou
Amy Says - It's shocking how much screen time varies in classrooms even within the same school district. This article sheds some light on the variance and the need for better practices to reduce screen time that can be leveraged and standardized. This article also highlights students wanting and requesting less screen time which is enlightening.
For this month’s how-to, we’re sharing how a pivot away from smartphones can be key in reclaiming your time. OR Unplugged’s Simcha shares below how the Light Phone was a game changer for them. Simcha has the Light Phone 3 which retails new for $899. They wanted to emphasize however that the secondhand market is rife with phones at below retail price! Simcha found their Light Phone new in the box on eBay for well-below retail price.
Simcha says:
Switching to the Light Phone 3 in September of 2025 truly brought hours back into my day. I had hemmed and hawed about it for a long while and when my iPhone bit the dust, I didn’t want to just buy another one and keep moving forward in the same cycle. The Light Phone 3 does pretty much everything I need a phone to do - I can text, call, get directions, listen to music (uploaded via mp3) or podcasts (automatically updates when you “subscribe” to the podcasts you’re interested in), set timers and alarms, and take photos and video. That’s all there is to it! I used to find myself scrolling when I was on the bus especially and it never felt like a wholly satisfying way to spend time in transit. Now, I find my transit time is spent reading, making lists, actually replying to text messages instead of putting them off, or just looking out the window and being. While I do still have social media that I can access on a computer or iPad, having the separation of my phone as just a phone feels like a healthy barrier around my time and my attention. For folks that need or want more rigidity and permanence than something like a Brick can provide, I would highly recommend a Light Phone. Does it occasionally drop a text especially in a group chat setting? Yes, but if the cost of having more of my time and attention back is losing a text or two along the way, it feels entirely worth it to me.
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 hello@orunplugged.org
Warmly and with gratitude,
the OR Unplugged team
Kathy, Jody, Megan, Amy, & Simcha
