What I learned when I gave up my cell phone | Hays Edmunds | TEDxYouth@MBJH

could you do it could you survive without technology 46% of self owners said that it is something that they couldn't live without in fact no cell phone owners couldn't even go a single day without their device 46 percent now I came across the statistic one day and it stuck with me it stuck with me so much in fact that artist noticed a dependency that most people including myself having not just cell phones but iPads laptops televisions and game systems I started to wondering can we live without technology is even possible I a 14 year old boy was convinced that the answer was no when I was bouncing around ideas from our TED talk I had the idea to talk about people's dependency on technology especially smart phones I like this idea but it was missing something I thought could I live without technology what if I did and then a new idea hit me I could give up technology for a month to see if it was really possible at first I thought this was a great idea I'm gonna lead to a great talk it doesn't month got closer - just how much I really use technology I woke up each morning and check my phone I went to school and distracted myself by watching movies and playing games I got home and texted my friends I tried to go to bed and ended up watching YouTube videos for an hour I was convinced that I couldn't live without that it got to the point where I was about to drop it of the TED Club just because I didn't think I could live without my phone for a month but with some encouragement from our friends and family I saw I decided I would do it hey it's only 30 days people have been living without cell phones for thousands of years and they churned out all right what's the worst that could happen in the weeks leading up to my experiment I made some observations about my technologies I noticed that in a given day I was spending around two hours on my phone plus the time I spent watching TV and movies I also noticed that I was sending and receiving over a thousand snapchats daily which admittedly is way over the top when the time had finally come for me to turn in my technology I took this video I sound about five minutes I'm going to turn on my phone and stop using all technology for a month and we're gonna see how it goes but basically I'm pretty worried but I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna work out pretty well I'm worried because mainly for communication with a lot of people because that is how it can meet using my phone is how I communicate with a lot of people outside of school and especially like people that are out of town that don't get to see a lot but we will see how it goes and so I'm excited I know those awful videos and I cringe every time I see it but er but it really captures how I've thought about my tech break I was worried and upset but I was trying to have a good attitude about it all right yeah it started the realization hit hard my phone was gone my TV was gone my xbox was gone everything was gone on the very first day of not having access to technology I instantly noticed the effects the band I'm in had a performance and my parents dropped me off and as usual we didn't have a plan for when I'd be picked up the event was supposed to last for a few hours and after when our band played I would dear friends house to live nearby hmm my parents had no idea where I was and they eventually had to text a band mate to ask where I was but when I got home we instantly established this is cheating and we realized that we'd have to plan ahead for next month my spontaneous life was gone when I got home that night a Saturday night by the way I was at a loss of what to do I felt myself bored out of my mind I hadn't made any plans with any of my friends I couldn't text anybody to see if anybody wanted to hang out I ended up playing guitar for a few hours and going to bed early both of what you're great know that I really gotten used to having fun with my friends on Saturday nights and maybe even doing a few things my parents wouldn't approve of day one was done over the next month I took notes in that journal about my experience and here's some of the highlights on day two my mom commented that I seemed happier and more engaged with my family I'm not sure if I agreed with her but it was definitely something that I didn't expect on day three I had my first rec basketball practice at the end of practice my coach asked for all of our phone numbers to start a group chat to coordinate practices I had to explain to him how I didn't have my phone and why it got to the point where I was a little bit embarrassed about it on day four I had a band practice and since I didn't have my phone I had to plan out the logistics of time and place my band mates at school only two of the five people showed up and I couldn't even text them to remind them about the practice also one day five I started padding the fitness related activities by going on a run and lifting weights this kept going throughout the month can't you tell on day five I walked upstairs all my family is watching the movie and without giving a single thought to the fact that I was using technology I finished the entire movie with them on day 12 I had a guitar lesson my guitar teacher and Mark that you know significant improvement in my skills which came from the sudden increase in my time spent playing guitar also on day 12 I read for fun now I hate to admit it as I used to be an avid reader but as I got older I stopped reading and has probably been at least three years since I read a book purely for fun that was a big step on day 17 I finished writing a song so I recorded it I can say with 100% certainty that if I'd had my phone is a distraction I wouldn't have recorded that song Nora has spent so much time trying to make a sound slogan on day 25 without even thinking I ordered a guitar slide online and looked up some dates for a music festival this simple slip-up just goes to show how easy it is to use technology without even thinking about it on day 26 add some free time after an English test and instead of watching a movie or playing some games on my laptop like I normally would have done I finished up some math home with us do the next day on day 27 I was at my friend's house and my dad sent my brother up on his bike to bring me home when I got home my dad wanted me to stay and have some quality time with the family well you know this quality time turned into a few minutes later I look trying and there's that my whole family was looking at their phones and I made a comment about not seeing the point and having quality time if everyone was just gonna stare at their friends the whole time on day 29 I realized that I had miscalculated the days by 1:00 and I still had to go another day without my precious technology it was almost torture but I'd come this far and I wasn't gonna give up now the night before I got my phone back I was thrilled I couldn't wait to sit down and catch up with some friends who lived out of town or just to watch some TV again honestly though when I finally did get my phone back it was somewhere to let down don't get me wrong I really did enjoy having technology back but I just wasn't this fulfilled as I was before all right let's go over the main things that game during my tech break and the main things that I lost what did I lose I lost my ability to be a spontaneous planning had no idea what do you do over the weekend until 4:15 on Friday I lost entertainment such as binge watching and TV show or playing video games for countless hours to my parents when we stopped I lost my ability to call text and snapchat my friends over playing or just to talk I lost all these things but when that game I'm proved on guitar greatly I was more present in my relationships with my friends and family I spent more time outside with my brothers and I got in better shape I don't know I don't think they eat of the benefits or the drawbacks and massively outweigh each other I believe that these devices are good but we cannot let ourselves get addicted to them as many people including myself have now my message for you guys does not take your friends technology and throw them all away far from it actually I just want the world to learn the moderation of their technology use these devices are definitely good and useful in some areas and even if they weren't they will still be here to stay I just want you to stop every once in a while and think to yourself is this really how I wanted to be spending my time and if not how can I be spending my time better remember on day five when I accidentally watched that movie I believe this was worth my time because the quality time that I spent just sitting down with my family I've seen this world without technology and I'm not just saying that it was 100% better but I definitely enjoy with my time without technology and I think you just might too thank you I was trying autograph [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 64,978

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, United States, Technology, Childhood, Children, Communication, Community, Connection, Entertainment, Exploration, Family, Fear, Friendship, Goal-setting, Impact, Internet, Life, Mindfulness, Music (topic), Positive Thinking, Productivity, Relationships, Schools, Self, Self improvement, Self-help, Social Interaction, Social Media, Struggle, Success, Youth

Id: 4w8vZ2NiCTY

Length: 9min 12sec (552 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 25 2017