Unplugged: What happens when four teens take a break from social media?
What happens when you ask four high school students to unplug from social media?
We put a group of teens to the ultimate test of willpower, asking them to take a digital detox and stay off social media for three days.
According to a 2022 Pew Research Center survey, 95% of teens use social media and more than a third use it almost constantly.
How did our teenager test group fare in the experiment?
It started with revealing the rules and despair set in for four Del Campo High School students.
No social media, no Instagram, no TikTok, no Snapchat, no Facebook, no streaming or YouTube.
"Stab me in the heart," Desmond Barthel said.
"When I saw Hulu and Netflix and stuff, I was like, 'Oh, OK, that's crazy,'" said Selika Kelly.
The teens admit they spend a lot of time staring at their screens.
They checked their average daily screen time, and it ranged from four and a half hours to seven and a half hours a day.
To take away the temptation, Kelly deleted all of her social media, including her TikTok account with 41,000 followers.
"Social media kind of gives me anxiety," Kelly admitted. "I feel the constant need to post, post, post. I think I need to step back and enjoy life outside my phone."
D'Anthony Ledet said it was time for a digital detox.
"I saw this as a kind of, like, an opportunity," he said. "If I can make it through this, maybe I'll just keep going after it's done."
"I want to see how I can be able to go for days without anything," Barthel said. "Just go to school and go through life without relying on this."
Dr. Shawna Malvine Redden is a communications professor at Sacramento State.
"They know scrolling through Instagram or watching videos on TikTok might not be the best use of their time, but they feel compelled," she said.
Malvine Redden is studying the effects of social media and communication.
She doesn't call it an addiction but rather a habit. She recognizes it's tough for teens to turn it off.
"It can be really difficult, especially with social pressure, where your friends are online and stuff's happening. It's the fear of missing out phenomenon," said Malvine Redden.
As part of the experiment, the students filled out questionnaires asking how they felt and how many times a day they thought about social. They also recorded videos on their cell phones to explain how they were feeling each day. They were allowed to keep their cell phones in case of an emergency and to stay in touch with their families.
Their feelings ranged from sad to OK.
After watching the confessionals, Malvine Redden noted how there were already positive changes after 24 hours of no social media.
"This experiment is helping them see how much time was spent checking or thinking about checking social media," she said. "It's remarkable how much you can get done in a day if you are not scrolling."
Three days later, we checked in with the students to see what happened.
They described in one word how they were feeling after it was over. They said, "Peaceful, refreshed and withdrawal."
Isaiah Gonzalez was overly confident, saying he would have no problems quitting. He said he spends most of his time watching YouTube videos.
"It was a lot more challenging than I thought," he admitted. "I didn't see how much I actually use my phone."
Gonzalez's average daily screen time went down to 39 minutes. The others saw a significant decrease as well.
"I tried my hardest and stay off it. And I did," Barthel said. "I was actually really proud of myself."
The teenagers said they found extra time for seeing friends in person, reading books, sleeping and doing homework.
Ledet said he made time for meaningful relationships.
"I talked to my mom a lot more," he said. Instead of scrolling on his phone when he first wakes up, he said he spent that time talking with his mom.
"That was definitely a better way to spend my time," he said.
The teens also used that extra time to see friends, read books, sleep and finish homework.
Now they plan to set their own boundaries and limit screen time.
"I want to encourage every teenager to try for like a week, or even like a weekend or like a couple of days," Ledet said.
They all congratulated each other for their efforts to stay off social media and make changes.
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