Season 3: Episode 5
Hope and Will: A Parenting Podcast from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
Phones Off, Focus On: Benefits of a Phone-Free Classroom
Teens receive hundreds of phone notifications a day. Those notifications aren’t just a distraction—they’re reshaping how kids learn, engage and feel.
In this episode of Hope and Will: A Parenting Podcast from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Lynn talks with Grant Rivera, Ph.D., Superintendent of Marietta City Schools, and Erin Harlow-Parker from our Strong4Life team about a new policy that requires middle school students to lock up their phones and smartwatches during the school day. Two students also join the conversation to share how it’s impacted their focus, friendships and time with family.
Dr. Rivera walks us through what sparked the idea, parameters of the policy and the data coming out of its pilot year. Erin shares insights into the mental health implications of screen time and how families can keep those boundaries going at home.
Whether you're a parent wondering if your kid is ready for a phone, or a school leader weighing new policies, this conversation will get you thinking differently about what happens when kids unplug.
Dr. Grant Rivera
Since 2017, Dr. Rivera has overseen 12 schools and approximately 8,900 students as superintendent of Marietta City Schools. In Fall 2024, he led the charge to implement a policy in the district’s middle schools that restricts students from accessing phones and smartwatches during the school day. Dr. Rivera offers candid and two-fold insight—as both a leader and a dad—with two students of his own in the district.
Erin Harlow-Parker, Manager, Child Advocacy Programs, Behavioral Mental Health, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Erin is an advanced practice registered nurse and has worked in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry for more than 35 years. Together, with our Strong4Life behavioral and mental health teams, she’s teaming up with researchers at Emory University to study the impact of Marietta City Schools’ cellphone policy. Erin shares how they’re looking at the policy’s impact on kids’ academic performance, mental health and well-being.
Lynn Smith
Lynn Smith is a veteran journalist, podcast host and mom of two boys. Her experience as the parent of a patient at Children’s inspired her to advocate for spreading awareness of childhood illnesses and injuries.
