As students head back to school, the Phone-Free Schools Movement is making a bold statement with a new black-and-white PSA that delivers a sobering look at how smartphones impact kids’ lives.
The Phone-Free Schools Movement, a nonprofit, is dedicated to helping K–12 schools implement bell-to-bell phone-free environments. Co-founder Sabine Polak, a mother of three, said: “We’ve seen the impact phones are having on students’ focus, connection, and mental health—and we’ve lived the heartbreak that happens when no one steps in. This isn’t just happening in one school. It’s everywhere. And schools have the power to make a real difference.”
With several states—including New York, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Virginia—set to restrict phones in schools this year, co-founder Mileva Repasky says the work is deeply personal: “It’s about giving kids the chance to focus. We started this movement to make real change, and this PSA is a bold, honest reflection of what’s at stake.”
The film, written and directed by award-winning director Brendan Gibbons and produced by Aaron Rosenbloom, features children aged 6 to 13 reflecting on what might happen if they were given their first smartphones. Using a haunting “if this, then that” structure, the kids finish the sentence “If you give me a smartphone …” with blunt, unsettling truths about distraction, anxiety, and lost imagination. Shot in suburban settings across upstate New York, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles, the piece aims to feel universal. Watch below:
For Gibbons and Rosenbloom, both of whom are parents themselves, the project resonates beyond the screen. “The pressure of smartphones and the dual lives young people must lead trying to keep up with everybody else… it’s unbelievable,” said Gibbons. Rosenbloom added: “Kids today can’t tolerate being bored. We hope this film makes parents comfortable with the idea that it’s OK to wait before giving a smartphone.”
The PSA drives viewers to phonefreeschoolsmovement.org, which offers resources for parents, schools, and legislators. As Gibbons puts it: “Hopefully there will be a tipping point where parents say, ‘Whoa, this is not good,’ and states agree, ‘We’re not going to have phones in school.’ If this film can help push that ball up the hill, it’s done its job.”
REELated:
Steve Buscemi battles Telstra in retro-futuristic ‘Scamageddon’
