In New York there is a group of teenagers who have ditched their smartphones in favour of the more old-fashioned flip phones. They call themselves the Luddite Club and they meet in their library each week where the only rule is: no smartphones allowed.
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Lola Shub was a self-confessed ‘screenager’ - someone who is glued to their phones, taking selfies and scrolling on Instagram. However, when one of her friends decided to give up their smartphone she decided to do the same and hasn’t looked back.
More free time
Shub says that relinquishing her smartphone has given her more free time, better concentration and she enjoys reading more.
In an article in theInsider, Shub said:
If I have one overarching message for my fellow teenagers, it's this: Spend time getting to know yourself and exploring the world around you. It's so much more fulfilling — and so much more real — than the one inside your expensive little box.
She added that instead of texting and communicating on social media, she makes more phone calls now and has more meaningful communication with her friends and family.
Luddites
The term ‘Luddite’ comes from an uprising during the British industrial revolution over 200 years ago. The group were known for destroying machinery in the textile industry in protest at the impact it had on jobs. It has now come to mean generally anyone who is against technological progress and is often used pejoratively.
However, as the backlash against technology in the modern age grows, there is increasing support for the movement of neo-Luddism.
Geoffrey Pointras, professor of business administration at Simon Fraser University writes, in the HuffPost:
Today's neo-Luddites continue to raise moral and ethical arguments against the excesses of modern technology. A key theme is that the technological inventions and the technical systems that support those inventions have evolved to control, rather than to facilitate, social interactions.
Ultimately this echoes Shub’s point that the technology should be working for you and not dictating your life to you. Finding that balance can be difficult but ditching the smartphone could be something that is right for you. Why not give it a try?
Sources used:
- Insider 'Why teens are giving up their smartphones and joining the 'Luddite Club''
- HuffPost 'A Field Guide To Anti-Technology Movements, Past And Present'
