Plymouth, vt. – For three days and two nights this spring, 27 students from Hartford High School did something that few adolescents live in the world today: they have become “disconnected”.
No mobile phones or internet. Not Instagram or Tiktok.
Students, joined by three teachers, embarked on a “technology” trip to the Bethany Briches camp in Plymouth in March. The students created their own daily hours and have known classmates who traveled in different social circles.
“There were certainly moments (during the trip) when I did not know what to do,” said Junior Tate Mosenthal. “But there were no moments when I said:” Wow, I miss my phone “.”
It was the second year of the practical experience, or more well implemented, to Hartford High. Peter Driscoll, a fitness coach at school, had the idea.
“I found that one of my greatest concerns as a parent working in a high school was dependence on the mobile phone … And what could be like in the life of my (young) girl in a few years,” said Driscoll.
The idea was to “withdraw children from the campus, where they give us their phones and they have no digital contact for as long as we go,” he said.
Driscoll approached Hartford High Teachers Tricia Pfeiffer and Halleck Pogue to see if it was a project that they thought they were worth continuing and if they would participate.
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“We were both immediately like:” yes “. There was no hesitation, ”said Pfeiffer, who teaches English. “It’s a minute to live what it is to connect with humans in another way.
“Are you going to be friends for life? Maybe not,” she added. “But you have at least talked to different people; share a meal with different people. ”
Before the initial trip without technology in the spring of 2024, the director of Hartford High, Nelson Fogg, had to sign to draw more than two lessons from the courses for three days.
“For me, it’s easy approval,” said Fogg. “Experiential learning is the best type of learning.”
A defined calendar – or an absence – was a large part of the trip.
Every morning, the children were able to wake up during their time and help each other with the food prepared by the students of the breakfast team of the day.
In the afternoon, students could choose between a wide range of group activities, including hiking, interior climbing and board games.
After the nightfall, a majority of students participated in ripping games of night tag or gathered around a campfire to grill marshmallows, speak and relax before everyone returns to their dormitories and the lights have turned off at midnight.
In addition to taking advantage of the freedom to create their own schedules, the students contributed their favorite family revenues during meal hours and shared the preparation and service tasks. They made pasta dishes, sandwiches, salads and pancakes. The buffalo chicken dip on fries quickly became a favorite aperitif.
“The moment that encapsulated the goal of the trip was to cook meals and eat together in a group,” said Matt Tsouknakis. “It brought us out of the groups of friends that we tended to stay on campus and pushed us to establish links with new people.
“I started to take the moments when I was with other people without my phone more seriously. It helped me take advantage of the present. ”
As in many schools across the country, Hartford High’s screen policy has been a very debated subject in recent years. The teachers worked alongside students to seek a healthier balance of screen time in schools.
Last year, color coded panels were mounted in each class to communicate if it was the right time for students to have their mobile phones. Some teachers have set up red panels that prohibit the use of the phone. Others suspended the yellow panels which indicated the use of the phone with the teacher’s permission.
“Technology has made a gap between young people and the elderly,” said Fogg. “And when you remove this, it eliminates this barrier.”
Vermont’s legislature is about to adopt a bill that would prohibit the use of smartphones by students in state public school districts and independent schools.
Under the proposal, schools should develop policies prohibiting students from using smartphones and other personal electronic devices such as smart watches during class hours. Governor Phil Scott said he was supporting the measure.
In New Hampshire, Governor Kelly Ayotte supports a legislative proposal led by the Republicans who calls for a “bell-bell” prohibition on the level of the state in mobile phones in classrooms.
Nationally, 26 states have promulgated mobile phone prohibitions since 2023, the Associated Press reported last week.
The former United States general surgeon, Dr. Vivek Murthy, whom President Donald Trump rejected last month, had previously proposed that Congress demanded warning labels on social media platforms concerning their potential to negatively affect the lives of young people.
According to Pew Research Center, a non -profit reflection group, 95% of adolescents aged 13 to 17 years old have access to smartphones.
In Hartford High, the disconnected trip is part of the school study program aimed at reducing the dependence on the mobile phone of students.
The trip, free for students, was funded by a $ 3,500 subsidy from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.
To allow the most students as possible to discover retirement without technology, none of the students in this spring was part of the first group that went to Bethany Briches in 2024.
Bethany Binches is high in the hills of the rear roads, surrounded by nature. The 100 acres property includes a main superimposed hut, a pond, a playground and two trees houses, a 10 -minute walk from the camp car park.
The Rustic Camp site, which dates back to the 1960s, was formerly agricultural land given by a couple who had “noticed that many Vermont children did not have many constructive activities to get involved during the summer” and that the nearby camps were also “very expensive”, according to the website of the non -profit organization.
Bethany Briches, a non -profit organization, is now organizing programs all year round for children and is available for schools to rent for their own excursions.
“When you gather people outside to do fun things, there is something special that emerges,” said Brandon Bergey, camp executive director for almost 20 years.
Hartford High teachers who served this year’s hoods are now planning to hold several outings each year in Bethany Briches or find a larger place to give more students the opportunity to participate.
“I think that finding a way for more children to do so would be cool,” said Pogue, professor of mathematics. Another possibility is to make a smaller journey, which always would have the “same sense”, for students, he added.
“We don’t want to stay stagnant, so how can we strive to improve (trip unplugged)?” Driscoll said.
“If we were there longer, I think we would have been more and more connected,” said Nika Dumoulin. “But it was short and soft.”
When he was asked what time during the trip made him a lasting impression, Driscoll replied: “Just to see the level of connections that occurs from the first day to the second day is really, really powerful.”
Lyla Metheny, a Hartford High junior, was one of the students who participated in the travel without technology.