For 14-year-old Ben Cohen-Vigder, accidentally losing his smartphone on the school bus last February ended up gaining him so much more.
"I was without my phone for like two days and I realized how my days were so much longer and full," Ben said.
It was so much better that the 8th grade lacrosse goalie made the radical choice to get a flip phone, giving him the ability to communicate without all the smart features — and distractions.
A growing number of experts are sounding the alarm about increased screen time and the effect it has on kids and teens. In a 2023 advisory on social media use and mental health, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recommended creating "tech-free zones" and encouraging kids to "foster in-person friendships." Meanwhile, several states have taken steps to ban cellphones in schools.
Swapping smartphones for flip phones
Ben said he used to average up to five hours of screen time per day. Once he switched to a flip phone, it went down to about 30 minutes. So, CBS News asked four of Ben's friends, Carson, Ranita, Jamison and Maya — all 8th graders in New Jersey — to try flip phones for a week. Maya said her average screen time at the beginning of the week was more than 10 hours, spent mostly watching TV and on Tiktok.
They were curious but skeptical about the experiment. Jamison said he wasn't doing as well as he wanted to in school and thought his phone use could be a "big factor in that." Although Ranita plays three sports, she admitted wasting time on her phone, watching 30 minutes of scrolling turn into an hour without noticing. Carson agreed to participate, but the avid basketball player was nervous. Maya, who loves studying English and just started rowing, was hoping the trial would help her sleep better at night.
The day CBS News sat down with the teens and took their iPhones and iPads and gave them flip phones, the reactions were a mix of laughing, shaking and confusion. They spent time gathered around the kitchen table with Ben teaching them how to use these foreign devices, including learning how to text without a "modern" keyboard.
They left with instructions to try and stay in the spirit of the experiment, not using friends or parents phones as crutches — and of course the promise they'd get their smart devices back in a week.
Carson didn't make it and asked for his phone back within 24 hours, saying he sat staring at the wall until he had basketball practice after school. The others stuck it out, sending in mostly positive reviews in video diaries taken on their parents phones throughout the experiment.
"I've been sleeping a lot better, a lot less tired during the day," Maya said.
Jamison said it was helping him finish his homework faster. Ranita reported that she was frustrated not having her digital wallet and felt other conveniences of her phone were missing.
Screen time linked to anxiety and depression in teens
Experts' concerns about increased screen time are not unfounded. Half of American teenagers aged 12 to 18 had four hours or more of daily screen time during a period between July 2021 and December 2023. Almost 23% had three hours of daily screen time, 17.8% had two hours, 6.1% had one hour, and only 3% had less than one hour, according to a report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.
Teens getting four or more hours of screen time each day were more likely to experience anxiety and depression, the report found.
Living life outside screens
Seven days later, the experiment was over. The teens noticed a difference — and so did their parents.
"I talked to my parents a lot more and like I went out a lot more with my friends," Jamison said.
Jamison's mom, Amy Lita, said her son had hundreds of messages from group chats when he went back to his smartphone, "but he thought it was all just nonsense and didn't feel like he missed out."
Maya said she learned the importance of living life outside of your screen. Her mom, Lani Padilla, hopes the experience can help them do things differently going forward.
"I'm hoping it plants a seed to think a little more critically about how she uses her smartphone — and me, too," Padilla said.
Next month will mark a full year for Ben and his flip phone. His friends may not join him full time, but he believes it's never too late to make a change — and it doesn't have to be all or nothing.
"It doesn't have to be something as drastic as completely getting rid of all your social media. I have an Instagram account that I will use on my computer, but it's more about doing small things that you can bring together to just fix that constant need," Ben said.
Ben's mom, Jenn Cohen-Vigder, hopes more parents will take notice.
"I think if people really listen to what the kids said and take a good hard look, it could cause people to reevaluate how their children use their phones. This is something people should be concerned about," she said.
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