Speaking
Wait Until 8th Founder and Executive Director, Brooke Shannon, is available for a limited number of speaking events for a fee.
Brooke works with parents and communities across the country to help families establish a healthy relationship with technology. She is a national speaker on how to parent in the digital arena and has given keynotes to the American Enterprise Institute, and numerous schools and churches.
Brooke also is a resource to the media. She has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, NBC national news, NPR, and CNN Headline News.
More than 50,000 families from across the country have taken the Wait Until 8th pledge and numerous media outlets have featured the pledge including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, and the Dallas Morning News.
Brooke has a Master's in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University and B.A. in Political Science and Communications from the University of Miami. Brooke lives in Austin with her husband and three daughters.
Online parenting talks
School districts, PTOs and churches love these informative online talks.
Are you struggling with how to navigate parenting in the digital arena? Are you wrestling with what the right age is for a smartphone and social media? Do you wish you could turn back time and make different tech decisions for your family?
No matter where you are on your parenting journey with technology, you don't want to miss a parenting talk with the Founder of Wait Until 8th, Brooke Shannon. She will talk about the importance of delaying smartphones and social media and will help parents already in the middle of smartphone battles with some strategic advice and tips to rein in smartphone use.
Online parenting talks entail selecting a local moderator from your school or parenting group to ask Brooke a series of questions listed below. Following this conversation, there is an opportunity for parents to ask questions for a 15 minute Q&A session. Organizations are permitted to record the parenting talk to share with their community.
How did Wait Until 8th pledge start?
Why do you think it is important to delay when children get smartphones?
What are some potential dangers of introducing the smartphone too early to children?
What about families out there who need to get in touch with their children before the end of 8th grade? What do you recommend?
Some families have crossed this bridge already and are struggling with how to keep smartphones in check. What are some recommendations for parents trying to manage how their kids use smartphones? How can parents teach their kids to use smartphones safely and moderately?
What about monitoring? Should parents monitor what their children do online? Is that helicopter parenting? Is that invading a child’s privacy?
What about parental controls? So many parents are overwhelmed with how to safely set up smartphones and tablets. What do you recommend?
What are your thoughts on social media? At what age are kids ready for social media and what is the best way to teach them how to use it safely?
There are some tough parenting challenges we face with kids online. How do you encourage parents to equip their kids to be prepared to encounter inappropriate content online like pornography?
Many parents feel overwhelmed with how to keep screen time in check. What are your top tips to help with reduce screen time?
What are some good resources you can recommend to parents who want to learn more about parenting in a digital age?
parenting talks on location
Brooke travels for a limited number of events for a speaking fee and travel expenses. The format is similar to the online parenting talks. If you are interested in booking an event, please reach out via email at info@waituntil8th.org for availability and prices.
Middle School Youth Talks
In her youth talk, Brooke educates middle schoolers about the distractions and dangers of smartphones and social media. She dives into important topics all middle schoolers should know about including persuasive design, cyberbullying, sexting, the harmful effect of pornography and why it is important to be on guard against toxic beauty content on social media.
If you are interested in booking an event, please reach out via email at info@waituntil8th.org for availability and pricing.
