SP RI NG/ SUMMER 2026
A Separated Generation
Get Your Hands Dirty
Built For Wellness
Designing for
How Screens
Volunteering at
How We Build
a Life Well
Replaced Nature
Serenbe Farms
& Why
Lived
Pa ge 3
Page 8
Pa g e 1 4
Pa g e 1 6
Aging Well
LET THEM ROAM Serenbe Parents Choose Another Way
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arents around the world are facing a shared challenge. It’s an uncomfortable truth: younger generations, given early access to smartphones and social media, are showing significant increases in anxiety, depression, and loneliness. The opposite of the future we desire for our children. In just a few short years, the emotional landscape of childhood has shifted dramatically. Rates of teen depression have more than doubled since the early 2010s. Suicide rates among young teen girls have nearly tripled over the past two decades. Researchers have also found that teens who spend five or more hours a day on their devices are significantly more likely to exhibit suicide risk factors, while pediatric experts warn that smartphones can disrupt attention, emotional regulation, and sleep during critical developmental years. At the same time, hours once spent on play, creativity, and face-to-face connection are increasingly replaced by endless scrolling and exposure to content young minds aren’t equipped to process. We’ve watched with interest as Australia has taken the lead, implementing the world’s first ban prohibiting children under 16 from accessing major social media platforms in an effort to protect mental health. Here, we can’t afford to wait for regulation alone. Every day, the next generation’s mental health depends on actions taken today. In Serenbe, parents are joining together around a voluntary, collective pledge to create a cultural shift. Community led action in support of the mental health of our younger generations. Research shows that when just 20%-50% of families in a grade delay smartphones, peer
pressure significantly drops and in-person socialization rises. Communities that adopt these collective pledges don’t just reduce tech-related stress; they strengthen peer relationships and rebuild connection where it matters most. This pledge among parents isn’t about restriction or taking something away, it’s about giving our children something valuable in return: freedom. Freedom to roam.Today’s children aren’t only anxious because of devices; they are increasingly separated from one another by the suburban American built environment. Freedom fosters independence and confidence, but it also allows kids to explore alongside their friends, creating shared experiences and real-life connection. How is this possible? Letting your kids run around? This isn’t the 80s! And yet, in Serenbe, roaming isn’t reckless. It’s intentional. Our built environment makes this kind of freedom not only possible, but safe. When Serenbe’s pathways, third places, and homes were first designed in 2004, doomscrolling wasn’t yet part of childhood. But we were already designing solutions to a related problem: urban sprawl and the erosion of personal connection. At the end of the day, children turn to their devices because they want to connect. We all do. Serenbe’s answer starts with the built environment and thoughtful placemaking. Urban sprawl makes it difficult to connect with nature and with one another; designing for walkability, immersion in nature, shared gathering places, and human connection makes a healthier way of living possible physically and mentally. Some of these design choices are immediately visible, while others are subtle, or even unseen.