Speak – James J Blackburn

Jim Blackburn

Free School Assembly Talk

Autopilot Is
Killing Your
Childhood.

A raw, honest 25-minute talk for 6th and 7th graders about phones,
presence, and what they’re actually missing.

Hi. I'm Jim Blackburn.

I’m a Fort Lauderdale-based author, speaker, and entrepreneur. I come to middle schools and tell students something most adults are afraid to say out loud.

I know what it feels like to be so locked into a screen that you miss what’s right in front of you. I learned it the hardest possible way. And I come to your school so your students don’t have to.

The Talk Opens With This

The story that silences a room in 30 seconds.

Two years ago, I got a phone call as I was pulling into my driveway. I walked inside, sat down at my desk in front of six monitors, and went into work mode. I forgot my dog Lollipop was in the car. Six hours later — she was gone.

"I had been living on autopilot. And it killed something I loved."

— The moment that changed everything

Every kid in that room has a phone. Every kid in that room has felt the hollow feeling after an hour of scrolling. This story doesn’t lecture them about it. It shows them where that road ends. And then it shows them the way out.

What Students Take Home

Four things they're living with right now — finally named.

01 Autopilot & The Phone

Their devices are engineered to keep them distracted. Here’s what that’s actually costing them.

02 The Hunger for Attention

Every kid wants to feel seen. The phone exploits that need without ever satisfying it.

03 Skin Starvation

This generation is the least physically connected in history. Their nervous systems are paying the price.

04 The Power to Reframe

Humans can take the worst moment and turn it into a catalyst. That superpower is available to them right now.

The Talk Opens With This

What happened after the worst day of my life.

I don’t just share the tragedy. I share what it unlocked.

The wake-up call

Lollipop's death forced me to confront how deeply on autopilot I'd been living. My wife called me a walking robot.

I read the Bible cover to cover — at 47

For the first time in my life. That decision cracked something open.

I wrote 13 books

A series called The SonFlower and the Bear — born directly from waking up.

I became a speaker

None of it happens without that terrible Tuesday morning. Now I come to your school so your students can wake up before something forces them to.

"The phone will always be there. Your childhood won't."

— Jim Blackburn, closing line of the talk

Free

No cost to your school

20–25 min

Assembly or classroom

Grades 6–7

Tailored for middle school

48 hrs

Response time guaranteed

S. Florida

Broward & surrounding area

Book jim

Request a school visit.

Fill out the short form and Jim will be in touch within 48 hours to find a date that works for your school. Free, flexible, and built for your students.