About

The team from the award-winning documentary, Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age has developed the "Away For The Day" (AFTD) initiative to help transform schools into cell phone-free spaces.

We hear daily from parents, teachers, principals around the country through the thousands of Screenagers’ screenings to more than 2 million people that cell phones are creating a huge distraction in schools and people want change.

Dr. Delaney Ruston, a physician and filmmaker who created Screenagers, approaches screen time issues from an evidence-based perspective. When she discovered there were no studies on cell phone policies in schools, she and the Screenagers’ team decided to conduct a national survey on cell phone policies in schools and parental preferences. They learned that 55% of middle schools let students carry phones all day yet 82% of parents do not want their kids using phones at school. We have also done surveys at the elementary school level and know that phones are showing up in K-5 class regularly too and many parents want clear cell phone policies in their schools and on buses to the schools, as well.

We have looked deeply into the scientific literature and have found several concerning studies about academic performance and emotional well-being regarding cell phones in schools. To find solutions, the Screenagers' team talked with dozens of schools that recently changed from allowing students to carry phones to adopting “Away For The Day” policies. They heard almost exclusively positive stories about the changes. From there, the “Away For The Day” initiative was born.

We believe that having phones put away in lockers, so the phone is physically off of the students, is the best practice.

If your students do not have lockers, then we suggest that phones get left in their 1st-period rooms in places like hanging pocket holders, baskets, or a locked safe. For those schools where this is not logistically possible, then having students put their phones in their backpacks is the next best choice.

“Yes, cell phones can be tools—calculators, flash cards, etc.—and yes it takes some energy to keep them put away in schools, but I am 100% convinced that for the sake of our students, it is worth it and truly doable.” —Delaney Ruston, MD and Screenagers' filmmaker

To contact us email info@screenagersmovie.com or call (415) 450-9585

Our Team

Delaney Ruston, MD

Filmmaker/Physician/Movement Builder

Stanford trained physician and social change documentary
filmmaker. Her most recent film is Screenagers: Growing up in
the Digital Age. She has been faculty at top medical universities
and has dedicated the past six years to researching screen time
and youth, including academic issues. She has been the
featured speaker at places such as Google, The United Nations,
Facebook, Harvard, and at conferences and schools
worldwide. Delaney has won several awards for her work in
using film in launching advocacy movements.

Lisa Tabb

Co-producer of Screenagers.

Lisa has helped build the movement around Screenagers. She
speaks regularly at schools all over world about the effects of
screen time. For 15 years she produced news at ABC 7 News in
San Francisco, with a focus on trends around parenting and
raising kids and emerging technologies.

Katherine Csizmadia

Outreach at Screenagers and writer.
She has spoken to hundreds of parents, teachers, principals, counselors and more about their struggles with screen time issues.

Monica Bergman

Outreach at Screenagers and counselor.
She has spoken to hundreds of parents, teachers, principals, counselors and more about their struggles with screen time issues.

Rebecca Tollen

Producer and writer. Rebecca researches, writes and edits material for Screenagers' and Away For The Day's impact campaigns.

Advisory Team

Leslie Walker, MD

Medical Director of the Penn State Children’s Hospital and expert in adolescent health. She is dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of young people.

Jeff klugman

Elected School Board Member in Silicon Valley and Tech Executive. Jeff is encouraging his school district to adopt away for the day policies.

Shivam Mallick Shah

Senior Advisor to the Education team at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She worked at the US Dept. of Ed, and was Deputy Director on the Ed team at the Gates Foundation.

DAVID FINNANE

Middle school principal at Bayside in Sausalito, CA. Instituted Away For The Day cell phone policies at 2 middle schools.

Nelson Branco, MD

Pediatrician, Marin County, CA. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is very involved with the Council on Communications and Media.

Tiffany Kendall Obayashi

Assistant Principal at Rooftop School, San Francisco, CA. Her K-8 public SFUSD school has an away for the day cell phone policy.

Chris Bick

Assistant Principal, Sunset High School, Oregon. He recently spearheaded a cell phone change at his public school.

Emily Huff

Clinical Faculty at Seattle Pacific University's School of Education. She is a former teacher who now trains upcoming teachers.

Gabrielle Fitzgerald

CEO of Panorama. Her action think tank is dedicated to helping people successfully tackle major societal issues.

David Oliver

Past board chair, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO. David works with businesses and non-profits to improve education and children’s health.

Nina Schmidt

High school student at Drake High School. She is the Editor-in-Chief of school paper and a member of the school peer resource program.

Tessa Small

High school student whose story is featured in Screenagers. Tessa has spoken in several schools about screen time topics.