What Happens When Teens Try to Disconnect From

Tech For Three Days

ww2.kqed.org /mindshift/2015/03/06/turned-off-how-teens-respond-to-a-no-tech-challenge/
By Katrina Schwartz
Being without a phone can be an incapacitating feeling, possibly worse than leaving a wallet at home.
Many adults can remember an analog era of living without a mobile phone. But for young digital
natives, taking a break from the phone, where they live and socialize, can induce all kinds of emotions.
Recently, a line of teenage boys were frantically sending last-minute texts and posting to Facebook one
final time before grabbing a manilla envelope and sealing their devices inside. These boys volunteered
to abstain from using not just their phones but all digital devices for three days to better understand the
role of technology in their lives.
The Tech Timeout Academic Challenge was taken by boys and girls in grades 4 through 12 at Convent
& Stuart Hall in San Francisco along with some teachers and parents as part of this private
schools attempt to implement its one-to-one iPad program. The idea is to recognize that technology is
often a distraction from other important things, like connecting with classmates and family, enjoying the
moment or being creative.
It was almost a wake-up call for how dependent we are on technology.
This is going to be really hard for me. I think Im going to have some pretty intense feelings of anxiety
after about an hour, said sophomore Eli Horowitz as he sealed up his phone. Other students were also
apprehensive about the timeout, citing their desire to be connected to friends through social media as
one of the main temptations, but some were glad for the excuse to try putting the phone away for a
while.
Weve really accelerated how weve developed technology here [at Stuart Hall] and I think its good for
people to take a step back and just try to look at learning and friendships and socializing culture
through a different lens, said senior Thomas Namara. In his four years at the school, technology use
has increased dramatically. Hes glad the freshmen will get a small taste of what school was like before.

Students react to the technology-free life.

The schools leaders expected that some students wouldnt make it through all three days, but they felt
it was important to raise students awareness of how they use their devices. I have a long history of
working to promote technology, said Howard Levin, the schools director of educational innovation and
information services. Its really interesting that now the issues that are the most important to me are
working to promote conscious, mindful use and learning to disconnect.
Levin has no doubt that the schools iPad program is helping students be more effective producers,
creators and synthesizers of information, but hes also aware that technology has insinuated itself
deeply into his students lives and they may not even be aware of what life could be like without it.
While this tech timeout is short, just three days, he says thats enough to get kids reflecting on how
they use technology. Maybe theyll even begin strategizing ways to regularly disconnect.
A lot of what we are targeting with our tech timeout is the interruptions of social media and the
pingings and the notifications that interrupt attention, Levin said. Convent & Stuart Hall allow students
to use their phones and iPads anytime during school (nothing is blocked), and teachers are trying to

help students build the life skill of recognizing when its time to pay attention and when its all right to
zone out.
HOW DID THE STUDENTS DO?
It made me way more creative with my time and it gave me a sense of relief, Horowitz said. Whereas
if I had technology, I would feel like I have to check Instagram. It was hard to get used to not having his
phone, he said. The first day he was anxious, reflexively reaching into his pocket, but by the third day
he felt something akin to freedom. He went surfing, bounced on the trampoline and went on walks.
I feel very addicted to social media and stuff, or dependent is a better way to describe it, Horowitz
said. Its like habitual dependency, and I feel like I could do without that. It was really relieving for me
to not have my technology and my phone on me. Hes glad he made it through all three days, but isnt
sure he could force himself to take more timeouts in the future.
Other students werent so strong. It wasnt as hard to abstain from technology at school, said Ryley
Aceret, because he was around his friends, who were also taking the challenge. But on Friday night,
when he found himself alone, the temptation was too great.
On the bus home it was getting late, said Aceret. And just that temptation on the bus, [there was] no
one to talk to, and so I had to pull out my phone, turn it on for the first time, rip open the seal, he said.
I felt normal again, Aceret said of regaining his phone. When I wasnt with my phone I felt different,
like I was naked all the time. His phone makes him feel secure. He was also imagining that his friends
had already caved and were back on social media without him he had the fear of missing out.
That doesnt mean he didnt learn some valuable lessons from the time spent tech-free. I usually take
a really long time doing homework and thats because I get sidetracked with technology and my
phone, Aceret said.
Recently hes taken to shutting his phone off and secluding himself away from TVs or other distractions
so he can concentrate on homework. With his technology distracting him, Aceret said homework can
take up to five hours, but without it he can whip out his assignments in an hour and a half.
SURPRISING ANALOG CONNECTIONS
Technology has the odd distinction of both connecting people in unprecedented ways at the same time
that it isolates them. Several students noticed that when they didnt have their phones or iPads, they
were more ready to connect with friends and family, and more aware when those people were
themselves wrapped up in devices.
It was very ironic to see the generation that often criticizes our use of technology addicted to it when I
wasnt using it, Catherine Heinen said.
It kind of changed the whole way we interact with each other, Namara said. Because students always
have their iPads or phones with them, they often play games at lunch or check fantasy sports stats.
When no one had devices, Namara talked to his friends more and interacted with people he usually
doesnt.

Ki Sung/MindShift

I noticed interacting with people was a lot different, Namara said. People take out their phones as a
way to mask the awkwardness of the conversation. But I noticed people looked up more.
Without technology, Namara was also more dependent on his parents. His AP government teacher
assigned homework to look up an interest group and be ready to explain what it was and how it got its
money. Normally, Namara would just look up that information, take some notes and be done. But
without technology he had to ask his mom to look it up for him.
Half an hour down the line, my mother and I just had a conversation about politics, Namara said. And
it went from special interest groups to the environment, and the economy, and whats happening in the

Middle East, and then my dad joined in. An hour in, we had a really good conversation about politics.
That never would have happened normally, Namara said.
All the students recognized that class was different without technology, too. It almost seemed like the
whole school was on hold, he said. Every class we went to, it seemed like there was one point when
we couldnt move on. Instead, teachers led discussions about current events, played games requiring
students to make persuasive arguments or practiced meditation.
It was almost a wakeup call for how dependent we are on technology, Namara said.
Teachers and students at Convent & Stuart Hall have become so used to using technology for
everything that even when teachers knew there would be two days of class without it, the lessons
stalled. Students reported enjoying the reprieve from digital notetaking, Apple TVs and online
homework, but they recognized they may have been responding to the lighter load in general.
Explore: Digital Tools, adolescents, digital citizenship, Tech Timeout
Show Comments (43) Hide Comments