Good Morning,

My wife and I are doing a new thing for Kiama and the community. We have two kids and were worried about social media as they grow up.

We read books and spoke to experts on the subject and it alarmed us the dangers of mental health through social media use.

We decided to see if we could change the way we look at social media and educate the community. Overtime we realised it takes the community to reconnect and start talking not through a screen.

So we started Kiama Unplugged. We will run workshops for kids and adults about what happens to the brain with social media and how we should be encouraged to play outside in nature and talk to people.

We have our first event in a few weeks. It will be hosted by Fillmores who as you know is a great community space and cafe! They have been so supportive. On the 19th September we will host the first of many we hope unplugged nights.

People will turn up with no smart phone and we will have games and activities and spaces for them to open up and talk to each other again.

I know that sounds terrifying to some but that shows how engrained the systems are to our addictive pathways.

We have found there is a growing desire for this from parents in the area and we hope over time we can start to make a difference to peoples lives and the community.

Thank you Ian and Jane

Here is a link to the event