Luddite teens dont want your likes

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On a brisk recent Sunday, a band of teenagers met on the steps of Central Library on Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn to start the weekly meeting of the Luddite Club, a high school group that promotes a lifestyle of self-liberation from social media and technology. As the dozen teens headed into Prospect Park, they hid away their iPhones - or, in the case of the most devout members, their flip phones, which some had decorated with stickers and nail polish. They marched up a hill toward their usual spot, a dirt mound located far from the park's crowds. We don't keep in touch with each other, so you have to show up. After the club members gathered logs to form a circle, they sat and withdrew into a bubble of serenity.

Luddite teens dont want your likes

Back in , when I was on tour for my book, Digital Minimalism , I chatted with more than a few parents. I was surprised by how many told me a similar story: their teenage children had become fed up with the shallowness of online life and decided, all on their own, to deactivate their social media accounts, and in some cases, abandon their smartphones altogether. Ever since then, when an interviewer asks me about youth and technology addiction, I tend to adopt an optimistic tone. According to a recent New York Times article that many of my readers sent me, we might finally be seeing evidence that this shift is beginning to pick up speed. The article opens on a meeting of the Luddite Club being held on a dirt mound in a tucked-away corner of Prospect Park. According to Vadukul, some of the members drew in sketchpads or worked on watercolor painting. Kurt Vonnegut is popular in the club. But the word seems to be spreading. The crew gathering in Prospect Park had heard of three different nearby high schools that were rumored to be starting their own chapters. Lane showed up to her interview with Vadukul wearing quilted jeans she had sewed herself. She explained that once she was freed from her phone, she had started learning what life as a teenager in the city used to be like. She took to borrowing books from the library to read in the park.

Some drew in sketchbooks. I love what these kids are doing and share all the worries they express about smartphones.

SL-NYT, but to reader view - think it should work for everybody. My experience has been that NYT successfully paywalls reader view, too. Gift link. Also, these sound like a lovely group of kids. I haven't read the article, but this shouldn't be any great surprise, surely? There's always going to be a group of teens who want to define themselves by rejecting whatever the majority of their peers are into.

Social media is an epidemic — we all agree on that. But here's a twist: I'm in high school, and I agree with you too. That's why a bunch of my friends and I started the Luddite Club. We all hated our smartphones, and the baggage that comes with them: the relentless use of social media, the endless scrolling, the snaps and the selfies. None of us wanted to be "screenagers" anymore, but it was hard to step away. So we created the club to provide a space where we could put aside our small computers and experience life without them. You don't have to get rid of your phone to join the Luddite Club. Some members, including me, have switched to flip phones. Others still have iPhones but are trying to spend less time on them. When the club gets together, the only rule is: No smartphones here.

Luddite teens dont want your likes

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This article did make me think hard about my initial knee-jerk response to the kids, which was, shall we say, adolescent. Reject Technology, Embrace Modularity! Oct 27, One of them closed their eyes to listen to the wind. I am It was a great read for me, give me confidence that I am not alone in this. Interesting - but Luddite is needlessly pejorative of the press. Pure catnip. Let's go for , the good parts version. Sep 22, 52,

NEW YORK — On a brisk recent Sunday, a band of teenagers met on the steps of Central Library in Brooklyn to start the weekly meeting of the Luddite Club, a high school group that promotes a lifestyle of self-liberation from social media and technology. As the dozen teens headed into Prospect Park, they hid away their iPhones — or, in the case of the most devout members, their flip phones, which some had decorated with stickers and nail polish.

Oct 25, 8, I was going to post this later--thanks. Also I get ticked at certain websites that constantly nag you to download the app. I've recently encountered paid parking lots where the way to pay was to either scan a qr code or install their app. Oct 25, 19, As a humanities major, I spent a meaningful chunk of the early 90s screwing around on telnet BBSes. Thread starter entremet Start date Dec 15, I'm sure 70s reports on punk culture got a similar vibe. I want to say how impressed I am that so many young people think so seriously about technology and their lives in general. Others painted with a watercolor kit. Pingback: Five for Friday — Elizabeth J. It's frustrating and frightening.