Phone Detox

By Jadyn Bui

At some point, every media literacy class does a Nokia Phone Project, where everyone in the class goes without a smartphone for two weeks. This semester’s F block class started with a bang, deciding to start the project the very Monday after the beginning of school. We exchanged our smartphones for a Nokia 105, a “dumb phone” which could send messages and calls but could not access the Internet. We honestly kind of wanted to get it over with.

Our world has so much media and technology, but we often don’t realize its effects. The goal of Media Literacy is to make students aware of these effects, and the phone project was an important part of this goal.

So, on Monday August 12, we filed into the media literacy classroom carrying our smartphones. After transferring the SIM cards to our Nokias, we handed them in to Mr. Chin. “Remember, this is on the honor system,” he reminded. “You could have an extra smartphone at home, and I would never know. But you only get as much out of this class as you put in.” 

As a result of not having smartphones, many people could not communicate as well as they wished to. “I went to three birthday parties this weekend,” Michael Silverstein (12) lamented. “I almost didn’t make it home from one of them!” 

Esther Jung (12) agreed that lack of communication was the hardest part of the project: “I can’t quickly write to my friends or call Grab.”

However, the project certainly had its benefits. Aidan Boyd (11) was glad to “have more homework time.” Many students claimed that not having a phone eliminated a major source of distraction and allowed them to give more attention to more valuable pursuits. Except, perhaps, for playing Snake on the Nokia.

The project also offered valuable insights into the relationship between humans and technology in general. “I learned I have a phone addiction,” Caitlyn Chan (12) admitted. “Not having a phone is liberating.” 

Jung observed, “We’ve come to an age where we constantly have to rely on our devices. I’m able to take a break from all the apps I used to constantly be on.”

We will all be glad to get our phones back, but it’s been amazing to observe the benefits of fasting from phone use. In the future, we hope to manage our devices wisely so that we can reap the benefits of today’s technology without suffering the consequences of overuse and addiction.