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Page Count:240
Dimensions: 6 × 9 × 0.55 in
Publication Date:November 17, 2026
ISBN:9781774060216
Sustainability:Printed on 100% recycled paper
Printed in:Canada

Hold the Phone

How to Set Screen Limits, Reduce Device Dependence, and Reclaim Childhood

Smartphones and devices are reshaping childhood. Hold the Phone empowers parents to rescue their kids from digital overload. Set firm limits, walk back harmful tech use, and end daily battles over screen time by reclaiming parental authority, modeling healthy tech habits, and prioritizing in-person interactions.

This item will be released October 23, 2026.

Earn up to 18 Points.

No one else is coming to save your kid from their screen addiction. That’s your job!

Smartphones are reshaping childhood. Parents are well positioned to set the limits that kids desperately need.

In Hold the Phone, author and speaker Katherine Martinko delivers fresh, empowering ideas for reducing screen time, breaking device dependence, and restoring a healthy play-based childhood in the digital age. Child and teen tech habits don’t form by accident—they crystallize under the expectations, rules, and examples set at home. And while it’s easy to blame Big Tech, lagging schools, and outdated policies, parents remain the ultimate gatekeepers of screen access.

This book equips and encourages you to:

  • Set firm, realistic screen limits that actually work
  • Reduce smartphone use and device dependence at home
  • Walk back tech use that is out of control or was introduced prematurely
  • End daily battles over scrolling and gaming
  • Model healthier tech habits as a parent
  • Replace screen time with play, independence, and real-world connection
  • Develop community that makes offline play more accessible
  • Build a family culture that protects childhood from digital overload.

You don’t have to wait for schools, lawmakers, or tech companies to act. You have the power to resist and make change at home, starting today. Childhood is short. The real world is amazing. It’s time to hold the phone—and give kids the life they deserve.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Parents
— It’s Not (Entirely) Your Fault
— Listen to Your Gut
— You Can Change Your Mind
— Set New Rules
— Be Choosy
— Fight Fear
— Reject Surveillance
— Ignore the Influencers
— Technoference
— Hold Back

Part II: Households
— Design for the Life You Want
— Fill the Void
— Cultivate Usefulness
— Build Strong Play Habitats
— Say Yes to Sleepovers
— Mark the Passage of Time
— The Real FaceTime
— Take Analog Vacations
— Take Fewer Pictures
— It’s OK to Do Less

Part III: Community
— Kids Included
— Bring Back Parental Solidarity
— Teens Need Playgrounds, Too
— Host More Dinners
— Don’t Show, Just Tell
— When Other Kids Have Phones
— Be the Neighbour You Wish You Had
— What Schools Can Do
— Bring Back Teenage Babysitters
— Away to Camp

Conclusion: It’s Your Moment. Go Boldly.

Accessibility Information

Product Page Accessibility Display

Conformance Status: EPUB Accessibility Compliant | WCAG 2.2 AAA Compliant
Screen Reader Compatibility: Designed for an optimal screen reader experience and fully accessible to persons with disabilities.

Content Enhancements

Alternative Text for Images: Descriptive text is provided for all images, ensuring visual content is fully accessible.
Table of Contents: Easy, direct navigation through a clean, structured table of contents.
Reading Order: Enforces a logical and consistent reading order for sequential, uninterrupted content consumption.
Page List: Includes an accurate page list for physical book page referencing and exact academic citation synchronization.
Structural Navigation: Built with a clear hierarchical layout for easy content traversal and section hopping.
Semantic Structure: Employs appropriate semantic markup to ensure absolute text clarity, meaning, and text-to-speech accuracy.

Reading Optimization

Unrestricted Formatting Preferences: User-configured assistive tools, custom typography scaling, line-spacing modifications, and native reading application options are never locked or disabled.
Color Independence: Textual layouts, data states, and links use distinct styles or symbols so that color changes are never the sole method of conveying critical information.
High-Contrast Design: Typography contrast levels comfortably exceed standard baseline parameters to reduce eye strain under any lighting environment.
Non-Visual Accessibility Support: All non-decorative editorial text and data visualizations are optimized to support reading entirely without sight.
Language Tagging: Embedded text attributes direct text-to-speech engines to use correct pronunciation defaults automatically.
Blank Page Removal: Unnecessary blank pages are completely eliminated to ensure a streamlined, smooth reading flow.

Book Extras and Resources

Coming Soon

More from Katherine Johnson Martinko

Meet the Author

author Katherine Martinko

Katherine Martinko is a columnist for The Globe and Mail and a leading voice in the movement to reclaim childhood from screens. A speaker for Jonathan Haidt’s Anxious Generation campaign, she shares her expertise internationally through talks, her popular newsletter The Analog Family, and appearances on national TV, radio, and podcasts.

Her writing has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, CBC, Global News, Motherly, and After Babel. A former senior editor at Dotdash Meredith, she has also worked with Martha Stewart, Allrecipes, and Treehugger.

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About the Publisher

New Society Publishers has been a leader in sustainable living books since 1980. Our books are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper to support the health of the planet.

B Corporation, SDG, and FSC Mixed Paper.
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