In a bold experiment that addresses the growing concerns about smartphone addiction and teen mental health, British journalist Decca Aitkenhead challenged her two teenage sons and eight of their friends to go without smartphones for a month.
The results, published this month in the U.K.’s Sunday Times Magazine, offer a compelling glimpse into how digital detox can transform young lives — and potentially address what author Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D., calls the “anxious generation.”
Aitkenhead’s experiment, inspired by Haidt’s research on teen mental health trends, didn’t just take away cellphones. It culminated in an unsupervised camping trip that pushed boundaries of independence rarely seen in today’s overprotective parenting culture.
The outcomes surprised the teens and adults involved, and revealed unexpected resilience and joy in disconnecting from electronics, according to Aitkenhead.
“I’m really glad I did it,” one participant told Aitkenhead. “It was way better than I expected.”