There’s a movement afoot where college students are ditching their smartphones and replacing them with flip phones. It’s to help them be more present and socially connected. At Rollins College (FL), a student started the Reconnect Movement to create a phone-free space for students to meet in person and do things like hiking, yoga, thrift swapping, painting and just hanging out. The movement is spreading to other campuses, too.
“It’s a way to see and be able to experience what is possible with just connecting with a group of people for no reason and just hanging out purely to hang out,” Seán Killingsworth, who started the Reconnect Movement at Rollins, told USA Today. “That doesn't really happen anymore, because everything's so facilitated and planned out by technology.”
Student Charlie Fisher told the publication that since getting rid of his smartphone, “I’ve been seeing things more like when I was a kid.” Fisher has returned to old hobbies, including being a musician. “You really see things for how they are in the physical world,” he said, “and your emotions are really attached to that.”
Read more about the Reconnect Movement, digital detoxing and more here.
