Newsletter #04 March 2026
Hello Friends!
Welcome to March! A balmy start to spring here in Oregon.
We are seeing crocuses pop up in huge numbers here in Portland and it brings to mind the core nature of doing coalition-based work - working together makes everything easier. Where one crocus is vulnerable to the wind, the rain, and foot traffic - a cluster of crocuses is visible to those traveling on foot (and pollinators!) and can be more weather-hardy to wind and rain.
The same is true for coalitions; one parent or caring community member working alone can be vulnerable to burn-out and overwhelm but two (or three or more!) people working together can support each other in their strengths and their weaknesses and build a foundation on which change can take shape.
This spring we want to encourage you to find your fellow crocuses (or daffodils, or tulips)!
Me personally, I am on the look out for my fellow snowdrops.
What is your favorite spring flower? And how can we connect you with the rest of Oregon’s beautiful garden AKA your fellow coalition members? Write in and tell us where you’re based and what you’re fighting for and we’ll connect you with others in your area.
We also want to highlight that you can join our bi-weekly coffee gatherings and virtual coalition meetings by signing up on Four Norms.
This past Saturday we hosted a phenomenal screening and panel discussion of Can’t Look Away at SE Uplift!
It was a pleasure to meet so many of you in person and engage in such a wonderful discussion following the screening.
We learned so much putting this smaller-scale screening together and would love to support you (yes, you!) in setting up a screening of your own. Send us an email and we can help you set one up at your school district, church, or community center! The sky’s the limit!
We also want to shout-out that March is home to the Global Day of Unplugging! And what better way to celebrate than an afternoon of unplugged activities with you and your loved ones! Join us at Cargo (81 SE Yamhill st. Portland, OR 97214) on March 6th from 3-6pm to enjoy an afternoon of activities facilitated by Dr. Doreen Dodgen-Magee and Elle Cree! Reserve your spot here.
Can’t make it? Don’t fret - bookmark your calendars on April 12th for a follow-up event!
Want to try unplugging at home? We love this section on the Global Day of Unplugging site that is packed with ideas for you and yours to get unplugged and start connecting.
Love to read? It is never too late to join our book club!
We have one last meeting left in our book club on Jared Cooney Horvath’s new book The Digital Delusion. In it, Horvath unpacks the myth of classroom technology as progress and lays out the roadmap to reclaim real learning. Our last meeting will be March 13th at 10am PST (1pm EST) - register here!
Meetings will be led by our very own Kathy, Jody, and Megan in addition to our friends from VT Coalition, Laura Derrendinger, and DMV Unplugged’s Keena McAvoy.
Big Deal Nationally:
Big news nationwide continues with many social media companies facing landmark trials. These companies, namely Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), face claims that their platforms and products were designed with the goal of addicting and harming children.
There is so much to cover in regards to these lawsuits and we LOVE the guide that the Transparency Coalition has put together. Check out their guide here.
Big Deal Locally:
In the past month Kathy, Megan, and Jody have trekked down to Salem not once but TWICE to testify in support of SB 1546.
SB 1546 would require chatbots to
Alert (and remind) people that they are interacting with artificial content and not a human
Detect when a person is experiencing thoughts of self harm or suicide and then direct that person to a crisis line (988) or a professional or an trusted adult suicidal or self harm tendencies
Put in place extra guardrails (around sexual content and manipulative tools) when the bot is engaged with a minor.
You can watch video of OR Unplugged’s testimonies (and the testimonies of some key supporters - shout out to Aaron and Sasha!) on our Instagram.
From left to right: Rep. Rob Nosse, Max Williams, Dr Kathy Masarie (OR Unplugged), Rep. Darin Harbick, Rep/Chair. Hai Pham, Dwight Holton (Lines for Life), Rep. Cyrus Javadi, Dr. Jai Jaisimha (Transparency Coalition)
We encourage you to sign our Letter of Legislative Support to speak up for the changes you want made!
Kathy’s Pick:
Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant by Emily Cherkin (First Fish Chronicles)
Kathy says-
This is the first time tech companies have been held accountable for their crimes against children. They have hidden behind Section 230 and freedom of speech for decades. Whether we win or lose, the verdict doesn't matter as much as public awareness and opinion - and that tide has begun to turn against technology companies and their extremely addictive platforms in a big way.
Jody’s Pick:
Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless. from The Economist
Jody says-
This is a short article in the Economist outlining the perils of screentime learning. It’s short and well written. EdTech (shorthand for educational technology) companies promise huge academic gains, but research shows that these programs do not deliver and most often impair learning. Meanwhile, these companies market their online learning programs with great economic success, without evidence of their safety or efficacy. The best proven predictor of superior educational outcomes in children is an excellent teacher. It is time for our society to take stock and return to human based, interactive, and evidenced based teaching methods, without 1:1 screens.
Megan’s Pick:
The Battle for Your Time: Exposing the Costs of Social Media by Dino Ambrois
Megan says-
At Mindful Media, I've noticed that tweens and teens often respond better to hearing someone besides their parent talking about technology use. As parents, we often get tuned out like the teachers in Charlie Brown. That's why I have a collection of Youtube videos about tech for families to watch together. I recently found this TED Talk given by Dino Ambrosi and it's gone to the top of my list! Dino is a formerly tech-addicted teen who founded Project Reboot, a program that helps teens and young adults set and stick to informed and intentional tech use. I love it when young people who have been impacted by tech harms stand up and inspire other young people!
Simcha’s Pick:
Simcha says-
I am always thinking about AI these days. This week I saw a new study from MIT surrounding the cognitive impact of using AI regularly. In the study, scientists discovered that people using AI consistently over the course of 4 months showed significantly lower behavioral, linguistic, and neural level scores than those who did not use AI. The people participating in the study were adults but imagine the impact on a child’s brain. While you can retain plasticity in the brain well into adulthood and beyond, children have the easiest time forming new neural pathways. What does repeated AI use mean for them and their cognition over the course of a lifetime? From the energy use, to water consumption, to cognitive decline; every day I find another reason to work on building a future without AI (don’t get me started about the water crisis).
And in AI related happenings - we at OR Unplugged are currently investigating what search engines we enjoy using! If you have a recommendation that doesn’t utilize AI (or utilizes it minimally or in a way that can be turned off), let us know at ORunplugged@proton.me
From DuckDuckGo to Dogpile, we want to know what search engine you use!
Our coalition highlight of the month has been watching the BSD Safe Tech Coalition hit the ground running!
In their own words - Beaverton students face excessive screen exposure on school-issued devices. Even with new device restrictions, students regularly access games, shopping, YouTube, and AI tools during class and at home, losing valuable learning time to algorithms designed to capture attention. There are documented instances of students accessing explicit chatbots, using AI to create pornographic images, and researching how to hide eating disorders—all on school-issued devices.
Teachers shouldn't have to police browser tabs or compete with addictive algorithms. Parents lack control over their children's technology use at school. Constant screen exposure overstimulates developing brains and disrupts instructional time.
Support them in shaping BSD policy by signing their petition 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 April newsletter!
Pictured here is OR Unplugged co-founder Megan Orton’s son! Have a cute picture of you or your family getting up to some unplugged fun? We’d love to see! And with your permission (and the permission of those pictured) we’d love to feature it in our April newsletter.
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
