About
‘Rebels Unplugged’ is a community campaign bringing together parents & families, schools (primary and secondary), preschools, clubs and more from across North Cork – all with the same aim:
To embrace the safety, fun and freedom that comes with delaying access to smartphones & social media in childhood and youth (to age 16).
When everyone delays access, no child will feel left out. Let’s reduce the peer pressure together!
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For reasons why this campaign is necessary (i.e. the risks associated with smartphone use & online activity), see the ‘Evidence’ page.
When children gain access to the digital world, what actually happens is the digital world gains access to them.
“This isn’t a neutral playing field. When you come to social media, when you come to video sharing platforms, when you come to games like Roblox for example, all these things are built around algorithms, they are built around contact, they are built around keeping your child on that screen for as long as possible.
“The companies know what keeps us engaged are things that upset us, anger us, that frighten us, that arouse us, so they feed that to your child, whether your child looks for it or not.”
Dr. Brian Barron (Gen Free, and special guest speaker at the Rebels Unplugged launch)
On Cork’s 96FM, 9th Oct 2026 – listen to the full interview HERE
“Even though the risks and harms are widely known these days, and there is much talk in the media and at government level about the need to introduce safety measures to protect children, the reality is that progress is slow to come about. In the meantime, children and their parents continue to face immense peer pressure, and no parent wants their child to be the odd one out.
“The crunch point often comes around 6th class and Confirmation time, so we are hoping to change that narrative, so that no matter what primary school a child attends or what secondary school they move on to, there is a supportive community of adults and peers around them all agreeing to hold off until age 16”
- Aida Whooley, Co-founder of Rebels Unplugged
About the Rebels Unplugged name:
“We did a focus group back in May and one of the most commonly suggested words linked to a name for the community initiative was “unplugged”, that is to move away and disconnect from the world of social media and move towards genuine, authentic, human connection in the real, everyday world that we all inhabit.
“While ‘Rebels’ has Cork connotations, it also links to a sense of rebellion that is a natural part of teenhood so we wanted to tap into that. To rebel against Big Tech that is disconnecting us from childhood, teenhood and parenthood.”
- Karen Ahern, Co-founder of Rebels Unplugged
Who We Are
Rebels Unplugged is coordinated by:
Aida Whooley, Grange N.S. Parents Association (currently on mat leave, aiming to return to Rebels Unplugged in a few months)
Karen Ahern, Chair of Grange N.S. Parents Association
Niamh Lenihan, Fermoy Educate Together N.S. Parents Association
Miss Griffin, Principal, Grange N.S.
The initiative is led and developed in collaboration with a steering group of parents and staff from local schools, preschools, clubs and more in Fermoy and across North Cork.
Would you like to join the steering group? We would love to hear from you! All help is appreciated. Please contact us at: rebelsunplugged@gmail.com
Parents from Rebels Unplugged committee with guest speaker Dr. Brian Barron, pictured at the official launch in Grange NS on Oct 13th 2026