Oliver Hum / Staff reporter
On February 1, Cody Hutchinson, a 9th grade student at Eagle River secondary, conducted a 9-day phone detox experiment to promote communication and the results were impressive.
On February 1, the digital detox challenge took place at Eagle River secondary school. Around 40 students including Hutchinson participated in this experiment.
Every morning when the students entered the school, they would leave their phone at the front office and then take them back when leaving.
Vancouver based, non-profit focused on youth health and well-being, The McCreary centre society provided a $500 grant for the school as a reward for the success from the experiment. “I was engaged in a lot more conversations. Some of them even said that they had new friendships,” said Hutchinson.
Students who heard about this experiment were interviewed regarding the results of this experiment. Surprisingly, the results did not shock them because they felt that without their phones, they are being forced to talk to each other as they don’t have anything else to do. They believe that forcing people to talk with one another isn’t the right way to encourage socializing.
Interviewees were told that only one participant backed out and were asked about why they think that person left. “They probably had something important going on so they needed to check their phone often” said Gleneagle student, Trevor Ho.
Another Gleneagle student, Clinton Lau, says “that person is so attached to their phone that they couldn’t get through the school day without it.” Both interviewees say that they can complete the 9-day detox without a problem.
The main reason why Hutchinson started this experiment was because he wanted his classmates to be more social with each other. Without their phones, students felt like talking to one another was the only option. The interviewees said that better communication among students wasn’t the only benefit of this experiment. They said that being on this no phone detox would help students pay more attention in class, have better eyesight, and be less tired or lazy in general.
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