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The event featured sports, games and activities that keep students off of devices and encourage them to engage. Photo courtesy #HalfTheStory<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
#Half The Story means that \u201cwhat we see online is only half the story, that your whole self is something that cannot be captured by a caption or photo,\u201d Ivanir said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Though the phone ban is meant to help ward off digital dependency in young people, \u201cWe believe that bans alone are not enough\u201d to create healthy tech habits, she said. That\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
With help from the Phone Free Fund, a grant program supported by Verizon, students all over New York have planned \u201clegacy projects\u201d for tech-free experiences that become part of the school culture for years to come.<\/p>\n
For instance, Ivanir said one school created a \u201cdetox room,\u201d a calm space away from the lunch room that, under the phone ban, became racously fun for some and overwhelming for others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These initatives required adult funding but leadership and creativity from students tasked with creating an experience more enticing than scrolling.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t 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 \u2018why\u2019 behind these policies,\u201d Ivanir said. \u201cAnd no one can explain that \u2018why\u2019 better than young people themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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 \u201chelp students build a sense of belonging and community,\u201d he told the Bronx Times. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
As one of the Phone Free Fund grantees, Boahene said he saw a prime opportunity to bring students together \u2014 especially during the stressful week of the Regents exams. \u201cI wanted to use the fund to help my school community in the greater sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I saw it was, it\u2019s just students having fun. Everybody was doing their own thing,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone was happy to be there and just chill, relax after school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boahene said young people face \u201cso much pressure\u201d and many competing obligations, which often causes their self-care to slip.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we get busy, we tend to forget basic wellness like having time to eat, sleep and have fun,\u201d he said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
By organizing the event, Boahene not only bonded with schoolmates but also learned how to lead and organize a large community event \u2014 a skill he plans to carry forward. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something I want to keep as a legacy at the school,\u201d Boahene said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
Reach Emily Swanson at\u00a0eswanson@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0(646) 717-0015<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n