More Social
Less Media
Join the Digital Safety movement!
The Idaho PTA is proud to launch the More Social, Less Media movement—an initiative designed to foster healthier digital habits, strengthen real-world connections, and empower families with tools for digital wellness. Starting in the National PTA’s PTA Connected program, this movement addresses the urgent need for digital awareness and online safety in today’s tech-driven world. Through statewide events on both the East and West sides of Idaho, we are bringing families, educators, and experts together to discuss screen time, social media pressure, and the impact of technology on mental health.
Introducing Idaho State PTA Director of Mental Health
Dr. Matt Larsen
Dr. Matt Larsen serves as the Director of Mental Health for the Idaho State Parent Teacher Association, bringing deep expertise in psychiatry, medication management, and youth mental wellness to families and schools across the state. With over a decade of clinical experience, Dr. Larsen is passionate about reducing stigma, promoting early intervention, and helping families understand the vital connection between mental health and academic success. In alignment with National PTA’s Healthy Minds initiative and Idaho PTA’s mission to support the whole child, Dr. Larsen contributes evidence-based insights and practical tools through workshops, statewide events, and community partnerships. His leadership ensures that mental health remains a central pillar in PTA programming, promoting resources such as PTA.org/HealthyMinds and fostering conversations that build resilience, awareness, and access to care.
Strategic Partnerships
Wendy Liljenquist serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Idaho PTA’s More Social, Less Media movement, leading efforts to unite parents, educators, technology companies, healthcare professionals, and community leaders around a shared mission: helping families reclaim meaningful connection in a digital world. With a strong background in law and financial strategies and educational advocacy, Wendy is instrumental in building statewide collaborations that amplify the impact of this initiative. Her work ensures that the movement is not just a message—but a network of actionable support and resources grounded in research, empathy, and real-life impact.
We partnered with Bark technologies!
We are proud to announce that we’re now a Bark Community Partner! Bark is a parental controls company that works with schools to provide free resources to help keep kids safe online and in real life — which means lots of cool stuff that you’re going to love.
As a Bark Community Partner, we get incredible free resources from Bark, a parental controls company — including information about their new Bark Phone.
Bark is a parental control technology company that helps protect kids online and in real life.
Its award-winning tech scans online activities and alerts families to issues including bullying, suicidal ideation, sexual content, and online predation.
Families can also use Bark to create custom screen time schedules, block websites and apps, and track location with GPS when kids are on the go.
The Bark app enables parents to download Bark directly on their kid’s devices — from iPhones to Chromebooks. You can also purchase the Bark Phone, which comes with Bark’s software built-in along with more comprehensive safety features like contact approvals, tamper-proof controls, and daily screen time limits.
As a partner, Bark generously provides us $100 for every Bark Phone purchase and $25 for each Bark Premium app yearly signup and $15 for each Bark Premium app monthly signup made through our custom Bark Partner website accessible from the QR code.
We are excited to have you join us on this mission and we are confident that with your help, we can help reduce the pervasive issues our kids are engaged in and exposed to, including: cyber-bullying, suicidal ideation, violence, predators and so much more.
