Secondary teacher Telmo Lazkano got 19 of his 23 students in a class at a high school in San Sebastià to give up their cell phones for a week. He kept the phones under lock and key at the center’s office and asked the 15- and 16-year-olds to write a small journal during those days. The results were surprising. The first three days they reported “a very clear picture of dependence”, but from the fourth they began to talk about a feeling of freedom or having taken a weight off their shoulders. The initiative has expanded to other centers and Lazkano has just received the Elkar Eraginez award from the Basque Government.
The project in question, dubbed No, is born from Lazkano’s concern for this problem: “For years I have been reading much of the literature that is published in relation to this issue and the data released by the various investigations seemed alarming to me. At the same time, as a secondary school teacher, I had in front of me this reality that the research shows.”
This 29-year-old English and social science teacher started by asking his students: “How many hours do you spend in front of your cell phone?”.
“They taught me directly, and the average was between five and six hours a day. In some cases, the weekends reached seven or eight hours a day.” In addition, Lazkano was surprised by the students’ lack of knowledge about how networks work.
“When we have to pay for something, for a pair of sneakers or a bicycle, we tend to distrust and assess whether the price is in line with the product, whether the material is good or whether the origin is ethical. When it is free, on the other hand, this mistrust disappears. It should be the other way around. We should be wondering what multi-billion dollar corporations invest so much money in apps like these and give them to us for free. It is clear that we are the product, and this reflection did not exist among the students”, he indicates.
This diagnosis was the starting point of the experiment, which required previous work.
First, they watched the documentary The red dilemma and a debate was generated. Secondly, they reflected on topics such as beauty filters on the networks or the aspirational perspective they have.
Finally, he asked them to leave his cell phones for a week: “It was completely voluntary. We sought knowledge and then critical reflection. A motivation was generated around the project”.
From then on, what the young people wrote in their diaries showed the depth of the experience: “During the first three days, exactly what the studies said happened: a very clear picture of dependence. They lived with nervousness, they couldn’t sleep, they ate more than usual, they suffered from intrusive thoughts, they didn’t know how to fight boredom, they got angry easily… They left them on a Thursday and it caught our attention that, from the fourth day, after the weekend, there was a turning point. They began to express that they felt happier and, above all, much freer. That they had taken a weight off. They said that they went out as if it were something exciting and that they could devote those five hours to healthy habits such as reading, visiting grandma, going to the mountains or watching a sunset without recording itâ€.
The day before the end of the project some students told him that they did not want to get their mobile phones back or the fear of falling into the previous dynamics. Conversely, others were anxious to know how many messages they had received. “The aim was for them to be more aware of their relationship with mobile phones and networks, and from this to establish healthier habits. When we resumed the topic after a few months, some students showed that they had halved their daily consumption”, he points out.
Lazkano sees in his day-to-day the consequences that the compulsive use of mobile phones is having among minors: “Technologies fight for our attention in what is called the attention economy. Since our time is limited and there is a lot of competition, different strategies are put in place to keep us in front of the screen. The consequences of these techniques are those that later affect self-esteem, mental health or attention span”.
And this is where the question arises: is it possible for a teenager to maintain a healthy relationship with the cell phone?
“The best measure to limit the pernicious effects of mobile phones is adequate training, gradual contact, accompanying them in the process and ensuring that they are of an appropriate age for the tool they use. It is difficult for a child under the age of 16 to have a healthy relationship with a cell phone without prior training. In addition, it is good that parents do not fight the war on their own and that they agree to delay the starting age. There is a lot to gain.”
