When a buzzing smartphone started to feel like a weight she couldn\u2019t put down, Grace Freeman bought a flip phone on a dare.<\/p>\n
Freeman, a full-time seminary teacher, had joked with her students about trading in her iPhone. They laughed and said she would \u201cnever survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just bought one right then,\u201d she said. \u201cI got it in December and I wanted to do it until the end of the year. And then after I finished like the first three weeks, I was like, I\u2019m gonna do this till spring break. And then after spring break, I was like, I\u2019m gonna do it till I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
For months, the plastic clamshell replaced the glowing rectangle that had been glued to her palm for years. What surprised her most wasn\u2019t what she lost, but what she says she felt she got back.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/734CVKKNQBFHDPW2VTCP6TQMXI.JPG\")
BYU students Katrina Hafen and roommate Alexa Plyer talk about a decision they and another roommate, Hallie Martinson, made to do away with their smartphones for a time. Katrina and Alexa talked on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at their apartment in Provo about the positives and negatives of the decision. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n
\u201cI lived life more presently,\u201d Freeman said. \u201cI stopped caring about unimportant things. I feel like I had less anxiety, I feel like I was less stressed about things. I feel like I was just overall, honestly happier.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s not alone.<\/p>\n
From college apartments in Utah county to online communities around the world, a growing number of youth and young adults are intentionally swapping smartphones for \u201cdumb phones\u201d \u2014 flip phones and minimalist devices that call and text, but don\u2019t scroll.<\/p>\n
A trend with numbers behind it<\/p>\n
\u201cDumb phones\u201d still only make up a small slice of overall handset sales, but recent data suggests interest is rising, especially among Gen Z and young millennials. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<\/a> cited Counterpoint data that showed sales of basic \u201cfeature phones\u201d in Canada rose 25% between 2022 and 2023. <\/p>\n Globally, companies making minimalist phones \u2014 like Light Phone and Punkt \u2014 report increased demand from younger users who want fewer apps and less distraction. The Washington Times<\/a> said sales of \u201cbrick phones\u201d among 18 to 24-year-olds jumped by 148% from 2021 to 2024, describing the shift as a kind of \u201cdopamine diet\u201d from constant notifications. <\/p>\n At the same time, parents, doctors and policymakers are sounding alarms about youth screen time and social media. Utah health officials<\/a> have named lack of sleep, mental health struggles and screen time among the top challenges faced by Utah youth. <\/p>\n A 2025 Pew Research Center<\/a> survey found that 44% of U.S. parents see social media as the most harmful factor affecting teen mental health, and nearly half of teens say it mostly has a negative effect. <\/p>\n Those concerns helped fuel Utah\u2019s first-in-the-nation social media regulations<\/a> for minors, which require parental consent and limit overnight use. <\/p>\n Against that backdrop, some young adults aren\u2019t just talking about cutting back on screen time \u2014 they\u2019re changing the device itself.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019re experiencing a third of what life could be\u2019<\/p>\n Freeman is candid about how strong her feelings became after making the switch.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that, and I say this boldly and confidently, that I genuinely believe that we are experiencing a third of what life could actually be because two-thirds of it, we\u2019re wasting it on our phone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Even people with relatively low daily screen time, she argued, underestimate how much their phones shape their thoughts and attention.<\/p>\n \u201cEven if your screen time is less than three hours, even if your screen time is like really low, really minimal, the effects your phone has on your mind is diminishing the rest of your life,\u201d she said. \u201cNo matter what you\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Multiple studies<\/a> have found that the mere presence of a smartphone can reduce cognitive capacity<\/a>.<\/p>\n Freeman said her mental health changed in ways she could feel physically.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even deeply struggle with anxiety or depression,\u201d she said, but \u201cImmediately when I had a flip phone, the immediate amount of anxiety that I lost was \u2014 I don\u2019t even know if I could explain it to you. My insides felt physically different.”<\/p>\n She also noticed a difference in the classroom.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a significantly better teacher with a flip phone,\u201d she said. With a smartphone, \u201cif I check my phone as the teacher, everyone in my class thinks, \u2018Oh, it\u2019s acceptable for me to check the time\u2019 \u2014 that\u2019s also checking all my notifications and if someone interesting texts you, you\u2019re gonna look. I would never open up my flip phone in class.\u201d<\/p>\n As a podcaster and influencer<\/a>, Freeman still needed her smartphone for certain tasks \u2014 social media work, podcast duties and other job responsibilities. So she turned her old iPhone into what she said was \u201cbasically an iPod.\u201d She left it at home, disconnected from cellular service, and used it in short, scheduled bursts.<\/p>\n \u201cI would just work on my phone at home for like 45 minutes a day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She points out that not always having access to work was better for her as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s actually so unhealthy that your work has access to you 24\/7 and you feel required to respond 24\/7. If it\u2019s not worth them calling you on the phone, then you\u2019re probably fine to not respond.\u201d<\/p>\n The hardest trade-off was relational. She was left off group texts. Friends forgot to include her in last-minute plans. She discovered who would call and who simply stopped reaching out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I started realizing, is it\u2019s not healthy to expect that we will be invited to everything. And it\u2019s actually really a normal human experience to realize, I actually don\u2019t need to be invited to everything to have friends.\u201d<\/p>\n The painful part, she said, was realizing how much some of her own relationships had depended on constant digital contact. When one close friendship faded after she switched phones, she said, \u201cI realized, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s so superficial. If that is what was keeping us friends, what a joke.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Four roommates, no phone November and a sticky-note wall For four Utah college roommates \u2014 Alexa Plyer, Katrina Hafen, Hallie Martinson and Anika Gross \u2014 the shift started on a Florida beach.<\/p>\n Plyer said she had been \u201cfor months on end\u201d in a season where \u201ceverything was just a million miles an hour.\u201d On a trip, she left her phone in the sand and walked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just gonna set my phone down and I\u2019m gonna go for a walk,\u201d she said. She prayed, collected shells and kept going until she realized she\u2019d walked about six miles in three hours without noticing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just like this super mindful experience that I was like, \u2018This is what I\u2019ve been missing,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI need more of this in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in Utah, she and her roommates stayed up late talking about how much time they spent on their phones \u2014 especially on social media apps like Instagram, scrolling reels.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were just like, \u2018Don\u2019t you ever just wish, like, you lived in the \u201980s where it\u2019s like, there\u2019s no phone?\u2019\u201d Plyer said.<\/p>\n By 1 a.m., the conversation turned into a plan: \u201cNo Phone November.\u201d They would move their SIM cards into flip phones and hand their smartphones to neighbors for safekeeping.<\/p>\n Gross, who\u2019s from Canada, was unable to switch her SIM card, so instead, she got a Brick<\/a> \u2014 a device that was able to block distracting apps and essentially restricted her smartphone to the capacity of a flip phone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all felt so good about it and then all got super nervous the day of,\u201d Hafen said. \u201cWe were like, \u2018How are we actually gonna live?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The first day, the novelty felt fun. The inconvenience set in quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how many things I looked up during the day,\u201d Hafen said. \u201cDefinitions of a word in a book I\u2019m reading or a medical thing I hear in class or at work or a movie thing \u2014 anything, all the time. \u2026 That was frustrating, just being like, \u2018I just have to forget about this or sit with not knowing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Texting also changed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe No. 1 thing I learned is that I send too many unnecessary texts,\u201d Hafen said. \u201cThe majority of texts I send, I can wait till I see someone.\u201d<\/p>\n All three said they started calling more \u2014 and talking longer.<\/p>\n \u201cI call so many people,\u201d Martinson said. \u201cI\u2019ve felt a deeper connection with the people too, because I\u2019m not just, \u2018Oh, how\u2019s your day going?\u2019 and then get straight to the point. I actually hear about their day and what\u2019s happening in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n They began keeping a sticky-note wall in their apartment, writing down \u201cblessings\u201d and changes they noticed: extra time for naps and books, more meaningful conversations, more scripture study, more quiet.<\/p>\n \u201cI just sit with my thoughts a lot. But I\u2019m never bored,\u201d Martinson said. \u201cI just have so much time \u2026 I didn\u2019t think I had that much time until I got rid of all the stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Their spiritual habits shifted too.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you turn off all of the things you\u2019re filling your brain with, you\u2019re like, \u2018Wow, I was not filling it with \u2014 I wasn\u2019t giving God the time that I thought I was,\u2019\u201d Hafen said. \u201cWhen you kind of take out a bunch of things you were filling your time with, you\u2019re like, \u2018Wow, it really wasn\u2019t as much as I thought it was.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Plyer added, \u201cBefore, I was trying to scatter and make time for scripture study and it was stressing me out. Now I feel I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, I have this extra 30 minutes. Let me open my scriptures.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n FOMO, Find My and friendship tests Freeman said when she had a smartphone, she checked friends\u2019 locations constantly.<\/p>\n \u201cI used that to see where my friends were at all times,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they were together, I could text and be like, \u2018Hey, what are you guys doing? Can I come?\u2019 Immediately I would get an invite, even if I wasn\u2019t invited initially, because I didn\u2019t want to be left out.\u201d<\/p>\n With a flip phone, that disappeared.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first week I was so sad because \u2026 no one has my location, no one cares where I\u2019m at anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then all of a sudden after a week, I felt so much peace. \u2026 The fact that no one knows where I\u2019m at, and I can do whatever I want, and it\u2019s not my business, and I don\u2019t need to know what they\u2019re doing, was so freeing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Plyer, Hafen and Martinson said they\u2019ve also had to wrestle with being left out \u2014 and with how friends respond to their choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s interesting to see the friends that are super unsupportive of it,\u201d Plyer said, describing people who get mad or annoyed when she can\u2019t scan a QR code or instantly look something up. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018How is this affecting you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n For Martinson, the flip phone became a filter for friendship.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they actually want to hang out with me, be with me, they would find a way to get a hold of me,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if they don\u2019t, then I\u2019ll sit here by myself and watch TV.\u201d<\/p>\n Hafen added, \u201cPeople will call you if they really feel like they need to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Seeing life in color again\u2019 Though, a flip phone isn\u2019t a magic cure. Anxiety and depression have many causes, and researchers say smartphones can both help and harm<\/a>, depending on how they\u2019re used. Still, multiple studies<\/a> tie high social media use and late-night screen time<\/a> to higher rates of anxiety, depression and loneliness in teens. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/TEBKOLHMLJCFTI75VGPN3BKDLE.JPG\")
BYU students Katrina Hafen and roommate Alexa Plyer show a wall of Post-it notes they keep with blessings they feel they have received while not using smartphones, during an interview at their apartment on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. They and another roommate, Hallie Martinson, made the choice to do away with their smartphones for a time. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/7ETAUGCFM5DABEAWTCQ4UJR7EM.JPG\")
BYU students Katrina Hafen and roommate Alexa Plyer talk about a decision they and another roommate, Hallie Martinson, made to do away with their smartphones for a time. Katrina and Alexa talked on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at their apartment in Provo about the positives and negatives of the decision. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\nBYU students Katrina Hafen and roommate Alexa Plyer show a wall of Post-it notes they keep with blessings they feel they have received while not using smartphones, during an interview at their apartment on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. They and another roommate, Hallie Martinson, made the choice to do away with their smartphones for a time. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FSCAOAECHJHOTBQTE2D73CVIDE.JPG\")
A few Post-it notes that BYU students and roommates Katrina Hafen, Alexa Plyer and Hallie Martinson keep to remind them of the blessings of doing away with their smartphones for a time. Katrina and Alexa talked on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at their apartment in Provo about the positives and negatives of this decision. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CZ2AGEDHUNAB7PUNVXEISYG3DQ.JPG\")
BYU students Katrina Hafen and roommate Alexa Plyer talk about a decision they and another roommate, Hallie Martinson, made to do away with their smartphones for a time. Katrina and Alexa talked on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at their apartment in Provo about the positives and negatives of the decision. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ED4TRAL5TBD4LP3JNHG26P34ZQ.JPG\")
BYU students Katrina Hafen and roommate Alexa Plyer talk about a decision they and another roommate, Hallie Martinson, made to do away with their smartphones for a time. Katrina and Alexa talked on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at their apartment in Provo about the positives and negatives of the decision. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n