Unplug Yourself

Members of the Pomfret community took a break from social media.

The September Wall Street Journal article “Facebook Knows Instagram is Toxic for Teenage Girls, Company Documents Show” detailed a Facebook study that found many teens blame Instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression. Thirty-two percent of teenage girls said when they felt bad about their bodies, Instagram made them feel worse.

But social media affects more than just teenage girls, and our freshman class wanted to do something about it here on the Hilltop. Along with Dean of Students Wes Jenkins and Photography Teacher Lindsay Lehmann, the Class challenged all students and faculty to participate in a social media detox at the start of the winter term — from December 1-15.

“A social media detox helped us learn what life is like without social media, and the mental health benefits of not being on social media all of the time,” said Izzy Makatura ’25. “Last month, I went without social media for a few weeks and I felt free! I didn’t feel the need to keep up with what people were doing. It helped me not be anxious all of the time.“

While anyone who signed up to participate could exit the challenge at any time, everyone who successfully stayed off social media until Winter Break began will receive a prize. Successful participation in the contest will be determined using the honor system, and participants were asked to journal, blog, or vlog their struggles, victories, and experiences during the experiment.

A similar social media experiment was conducted in 2018 by Good Morning America. See their results.

This is not the first time Pomfret students have taken on this unplugging-from-the-digital-world challenge. Lehmann and Louisa Jones have previously included a social media detox during a QUEST session they led. “You don’t realize how dependent you are on social media to occupy your brain and time,” said Lehmann. “I still have students contacting me telling me how beneficial taking a break from social media can be for their time management and mental health.”

“Seeing the impacts of social media in their own lives, members of the freshman class partnered with Mrs. Lehmann and the Dean of Students Office to challenge the entire Pomfret community to put down their phones for fourteen days,” said Dean of Students Wes Jenkins. “More than thirty people — myself included — joined this initiative."

“When I wasn’t on social media, I got out of my room a lot more, and I hung out with my friends,” said Izzy. “It was exciting to see my classmates not tied to their phones and constantly worrying about what is going on on social media.”