Screen-Free Teen Roundtable

Screen-Free Teen Roundtable

Our 2023 Screen-Free Week Coordinator Jen Kane, recently sat down with three teenagers, ages 15-18, who have spent over a month screen-free during their summers to talk about that experience. The conversation is excerpted below.

Jen: Can you tell me the pros and cons about having gone screen-free?

Keely: When I did screen free [at a day camp] the phone was still there—in the room—but I wasn’t allowed to use it. That’s okay, but it’s even harder when you go somewhere where you’re not even remotely close to any devices. Thankfully, after a while you start to not think about it.

Jen: So, do you think somebody needs to physically take away your device for you to be able to go screen free?

Kaia: Yes. Sometimes I’ll be so bored, or I’m so sick of my phone, and I actually want to do something else. But then I’m still like, [mimes picking up phone] ‘what’s in this app?’

Keely: I do that too.

Ronnie: Sometimes I’m tired of being on my phone, so I’ll read a book. But I’ll still have my phone next to me. The minute it buzzes, I’m like, [mimes scrolling].

Jen: Do you feel like you’re addicted to your phone?

Kaia: For me personally, yeah. Even when I don’t want to be on it, I’m still on it. It’s the first thing I go to all the time, and I will get stressed out if I’m away from it for a long time.  

Keely: Sometimes my timer goes off on YouTube, and says, “You spent four and a half hours on YouTube.” And I say, “yeah,” cancel the timer, and watch like, another three hours.

Ronnie: I am a recovering Twitter addict. I’ve deleted it for, like, a week so many times. I always re-download it, even though I hate it. It makes me feel so bad that I’m so addicted to it.

Jen: So how did you stop using Twitter in the past?

Ronnie: It was very spur of the moment thing. There was one day where my timeline was so full of this one argument I thought was really stupid, and people were getting so aggressive over it. And I was just like, ‘why do I do this to myself?’ So, I deleted it.

Kaia: That’s something I’ve done a lot too. I don’t have Twitter, but I’ve deleted TikTok so many times, because when I come back down to Earth, I’m like, ‘I’m not having fun. I don’t like this.’ It just makes me feel bad about myself. It makes me overly socially aware and anxious all the time. It makes you question your sense of self.

That’s why I think it is an addiction. When I’m not on it, I’m like, ‘what a breath of fresh air!” Those constant boosts of serotonin in the moment creep up on you in a way that you don’t even realize that social media is the thing that’s making you so miserable.

Jen: Is there anything in the real world that gives you that same high?

Ronnie: Yeah. The Lord of the Rings. [everyone laughs because Ronnie really, really likes LOTR!]

Jen: Okay, so what does it feel like when you go screen-free and eliminate all that noise in your life?

Ronnie: I feel like I have a lot more time to do things. But sometimes I don’t know what to do. So, it’s like, ‘okay, I can read a book and I can journal.’ I can also have conversations about serious topics with friends and family that respect me, which is way different than Twitter.

Keely: When I come back from a screen-free camp, I’ll sometimes catch up with people on my Instagram feed, text people, and watch reels. But that’s about it, unless it’s close friends. I don’t care about everything everybody posts every day.  

Kaia: I journaled about this a lot, especially when I got back from [a screen-free] camp. When I’m really depressed or anxious it’s usually because of social media. Without that distraction it makes me think about myself a lot more. It’s almost like you forget how much fun your mind is when you’re constantly having this other stimulant. You forget what your own brain can do.

Screen-Free week is for teens too! If your teen wants to participate this year, invite them to pledge to participate at screenfree.org/pledge. The teens above aren’t going entirely screen-free on May 1, simply picking one problematic app from which to take a week-long break. Sounds like a great plan to us!

 

Changing just one habit for Screen-Free Week

Changing just one habit for Screen-Free Week

The urge had become completely Pavlovian.

Whenever I stopped at a red light while driving, I’d check my phone for messages. Stop at a red light, check for messages; stop; check. It was ingrained, unsafe, and annoyingly compelling and unstoppable. Even with my notifications off ’d keep my phone nearby, compulsively checking for no reason whatsoever.

I should have known better, of course, given my professional work with Screen-Free Week 2018 and 2019 and the Screen Time Action Network. But even those of us deep in the fight for safe, humane tech for children rely on our digital tech to help us advance our mission and advocacy.

That means we are no less prone to habituated tech habits and digital tech overuse (or unsafe use), especially considering that our tech devices are so deviously designed to feel impossible to put down.

So in spring 2022, I asked myself: could I use Screen-Free Week this year to spark lasting change in my relationship with my own devices?

For the two years I worked to promote Screen-Free Week, I urged families, schools, and communities to consider their past year of digital tech use as inspiration for how they’d celebrate the week, then use the week as inspiration for a changed relationship the rest of the year. But could one Screen-Free Week really make a difference in my own life?

Let me quell the doubters and naysayers by saying that yes, it can be absolutely habit changing.

Last Screen-Free Week I made that one simple resolution not to check my phone at red lights. That was it. I kept my phone in my purse and kept the purse zipped and inaccessible. It wasn’t easy, but I knew that putting temptation out of reach is an important habit-changing tool.

After one week of a severed “red light-check phone” connection thanks to Screen-Free Week, the urge had begun to lift. I decided to continue the practice as I didn’t want to give up on my progress.

Months later, I’ve stuck to this new habit. If I feel strongly that I need to check my phone (like when I’m waiting for an important message), I will pull to the side of the road and check. I also keep a pad of paper and pen near me to jot down ideas that pop into my mind (yes, I do this at red lights, but it is not an ingrained, habituated response, so I allow myself this traffic light indulgence).

I can check my phone before I begin a drive and after I’ve parked at the end, but not during the drive itself. I replaced one terrible tech habit with a digital wellness practice that fosters mindfulness and allows me to enjoy the journey more.

So yes, Screen-Free Week is about a week of gratitude, fun, and community. But I’m serious when I say that if you’re lucky, it may rock your year as well!

Rinny Yourman, Esq., digital wellness educator, parent educator, blogger, and mom to two teens, volunteered and has worked with Screen-Free Week and the Screen Time Action Network at Fairplay since 2018.