Students at Democracy Prep Endurance High School in Longwood recently organized a “digital wellness day” that included hours of phone-free fun after school.
At least 94 students in grades 9-12 attended the June 4 event, which offered volleyball, basketball, Uno, Jenga, crafts, snacks and drinks and more. Students also heard a guest speaker on careers in emergency medical services and information on mental health resources.
As New York schools complete the first school year with a bell-to-bell phone ban in place, it’s more important than ever for young people to have “real agency in the conversation around the future of tech,” said Daniella Ivanir, youth engagement lead for the digital-focused nonprofit #Half The Story, which worked with Democracy Prep students to fund and plan their event.
The organization, backed by Oprah Winfrey and Melinda Gates, is named for the fact that what most people present the world on social media represents only a fraction of their reality.
#Half The Story means that “what we see online is only half the story, that your whole self is something that cannot be captured by a caption or photo,” Ivanir said.
Though the phone ban is meant to help ward off digital dependency in young people, “We believe that bans alone are not enough” to create healthy tech habits, she said. That’s why HTS activated Teen Tech Councils around the state, with student ambassadors in the schools, to feel out what young people really need in order to become less tech-addicted.
With help from the Phone Free Fund, a grant program supported by Verizon, students all over New York have planned “legacy projects” for tech-free experiences that become part of the school culture for years to come.
For instance, Ivanir said one school created a “detox room,” a calm space away from the lunch room that, under the phone ban, became racously fun for some and overwhelming for others.
Ambassadors at a rural school created a mobile craft cart for students to check out art supplies during the school day or to take home, according to Ivanir. With arts classes cut and few other structured activities for teens in the small town, the cart filled a critical gap.
These initatives required adult funding but leadership and creativity from students tasked with creating an experience more enticing than scrolling.
“We don’t believe taking away phones is going to be effective unless we replace that with joy, fun and connection and really explain to young people the ‘why’ behind these policies,” Ivanir said. “And no one can explain that ‘why’ better than young people themselves.”
Cayden Boahene, a graduating senior at Democracy Prep and digital ambassador with HTS, is heading for Hunter College soon. But to close out a stressful school year, he was excited to create a digital wellness event to “help students build a sense of belonging and community,” he told the Bronx Times.
At his school, Boahene said students are required to keep their locked phones in Yondr pouches, but some try to sneak phones in, causing distractions and slipping grades.
As one of the Phone Free Fund grantees, Boahene said he saw a prime opportunity to bring students together — especially during the stressful week of the Regents exams. “I wanted to use the fund to help my school community in the greater sense.”
On the day of, Boahene said it was fun to see students in all grades staying off their phones for hours and engaging in old-fashioned competition, whether in board games or sports, and other analog activities.
“The way I saw it was, it’s just students having fun. Everybody was doing their own thing,” he said. “Everyone was happy to be there and just chill, relax after school.”
Boahene said young people face “so much pressure” and many competing obligations, which often causes their self-care to slip.
“When we get busy, we tend to forget basic wellness like having time to eat, sleep and have fun,” he said.
By organizing the event, Boahene not only bonded with schoolmates but also learned how to lead and organize a large community event — a skill he plans to carry forward. He’s currently working with a community advocate to plan a youth wellness day in Harlem this summer or early fall, and is also working with younger students at Democracy Prep to maintain the tech-free tradition in the future.
“This is something I want to keep as a legacy at the school,” Boahene said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
