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(MUSIC PLAYING)

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-From the beginning of
time, our very humanity

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has been based on connecting
at the cellular level.

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Today, connecting on a cellular level
has taken on a different meaning.

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(MUSIC PLAYING)

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-Nobody takes in life unless
it comes through this.

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-Yes.

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-Whenever I see a televised
event that's a huge...

00:01:24.545 --> 00:01:30.950
like the Olympics opening ceremony or at
Times Square at midnight on New Year's Eve,

00:01:30.950 --> 00:01:31.550
everybody...

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I see seas of people all looking
at it through their phone.

00:01:35.770 --> 00:01:39.800
Like there's explosions and
acrobats, but they're looking at it

00:01:39.800 --> 00:01:42.530
through a little three inch screen.

00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:47.810
I think if Jesus comes back and
starts telling everyone everything,

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everybody's just going to be
twittering and they won't really...

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"I am Christ and I have returned."

00:01:52.520 --> 00:01:54.420
Oh, my, god, Jesus is
right in front of me...

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-In one short decade,
we have totally changed

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the way we interact with one another.

00:02:06.827 --> 00:02:08.160
-I think technology's beautiful.

00:02:08.160 --> 00:02:09.720
I think it's one of the most
beautiful things in the world,

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because we can communicate with people
just on a completely different level

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that we've never been able to do before.

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Never been able to do before.

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But now, people just take
complete advantage of that.

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-Every human being on
Earth wants to be involved.

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They want to be...

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They want to fit in.

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-We're now dealing with this paradox
of a love and hate relationship

00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:35.250
with our digital devices.

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-I love my phone and I hate
my phone at the same time.

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-Technology, like now, technology,
you can carry everywhere.

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Like you got your phone, you got
your iPad, and all these things.

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-Every five seconds, they want
to know what you're doing,

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where you are, how you're
doing it, where you're going,

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where you're gonna go next.

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No.

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You don't need that.

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You need to have a life
without everybody in it.

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-And no one needs to be
connected like that all the time.

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-How has this technological
change changed us?

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-Instead of experience, the meeting of your
friends, sharing experience and stories,

00:03:07.750 --> 00:03:10.500
you are checking on your phone,
looking at other people's stories.

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So it's kind of, you are missing one of
the best parts of your also daily life.

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-I feel like it's spiraling out of control.

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-It's that choice of being able to be
connected and needing to be connected,

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I think is the difference for me.

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-What started out as a
tool to bring us together

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has now turned into
something very different.

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-It's not an upgrade to your phone.

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It's an upgrade to yourself.

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-My name is Joni Siani.

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I'm an instructor at The New
England Institute of Art,

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and my background is in communications
-- so radio, television, film.

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I brought one of the
very first cell phones --

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it was 1985 --

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to an interview with David Bowie.

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It was his Glass Spider tour.

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And David Bowie looked at the phone,
and he was like, "What is that?"

00:04:04.650 --> 00:04:07.950
I was like, it's a cell phone.

00:04:07.950 --> 00:04:13.030
20 years later, as a teacher, standing
in front of a classroom watching kids,

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I started to notice that we were
developing this very different relationship

00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:22.110
to what we once thought of as just
a really cool piece of technology.

00:04:22.110 --> 00:04:26.880
-They are too addicted to just
checking the thing all of the time.

00:04:26.880 --> 00:04:32.970
And you know, they're just,
like, putting kind of a sheet

00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:35.000
between you and the real world.

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-Our generation's the one that's
always had the newest one.

00:04:37.770 --> 00:04:40.810
And so we're worse, because
we grew up on the internet.

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But at the same time, I
think even people 10 years,

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15 years older than us are just wanting
as much of the technology as we have.

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-I get panicky when I can't find my phone.

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-We've all seen it.

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We've all complained about it.

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We've all had people talking to us
and all of a sudden they do this,

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and we're sort of just going, OK,
well I guess this is just how it is.

00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.410
And meanwhile, everyone's being offended.

00:05:07.410 --> 00:05:09.240
-I just laid an egg, does anybody want it?

00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:13.740
-Joey, you want some gasoline?

00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:16.440
-Yes, please.

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-Mom, guess what?

00:05:17.460 --> 00:05:20.020
I married a clown and we're
having tiny little clown babies.

00:05:20.020 --> 00:05:20.520
-Mm-hmm.

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I just bought a hammer.

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-Which got me asking the
question, not so much about what

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do you think of the new
technology, but how do you feel?

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-Awful.

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I feel awful without my phone.

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-I have a problem.

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I take my phone in the shower.

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I answer my phone in the shower.

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-I don't know why I had this need
just to know what everybody was doing.

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-And it kind of gave me a weird anxiety
about being on the internet all the time.

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-I was very hooked to texting.

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-I feel like people these days
can be a little bit too selfish.

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-So how did these changes
end up affecting you?

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-Everyone remembered me as the kid
who got expelled for sexual offense.

00:06:00.470 --> 00:06:05.120
-Going through life without any
social media, it was hard for me

00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.280
to always go against the crowd.

00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:11.480
-I instantly dropped my
phone and shut it off.

00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:13.760
-That phone tells you
what to do with your life.

00:06:13.760 --> 00:06:16.410
-Let's learn about you.

00:06:16.410 --> 00:06:19.040
Let's let you learn about yourself.

00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:21.890
What is your relationship with your phone?

00:06:21.890 --> 00:06:23.220
-No one wants to say hi.

00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:24.440
No one cares if you smile.

00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:27.885
It's hard enough to smile at somebody and
get them to smile back at you nowadays.

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-You literally all of a sudden look
around, and it's just like everybody's

00:06:31.760 --> 00:06:34.320
facing their device, can't look away.

00:06:34.320 --> 00:06:38.260
Even when you go underground in the tunnel
on the metro, it just all of a sudden...

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-Everything's one second you look up.

00:06:39.230 --> 00:06:40.146
Oh, we're underground.

00:06:40.146 --> 00:06:41.315
-Oh, I lost all my service.

00:06:44.535 --> 00:06:46.410
I'm just going to look
at past text messages.

00:06:46.410 --> 00:06:47.630
Oh, well.

00:06:47.630 --> 00:06:51.110
-People really have kind of
slowly gotten rid of their ability

00:06:51.110 --> 00:06:55.580
to hit marks and really be part of life.

00:06:55.580 --> 00:06:59.390
They have to be reminded over
and over and over by their leash.

00:06:59.390 --> 00:07:02.930
-So if this is how we feel
with our devices, maybe we

00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:05.353
should see how we feel without them.

00:07:11.490 --> 00:07:15.000
-The inspiration for the digital
cleanse actually came from John Mayer.

00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.800
What was going on through his head was
actually being broadcast to the masses.

00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:21.990
When you're doing it, it feels personal.

00:07:21.990 --> 00:07:25.200
You just have your phone with
you, or you're just on Facebook,

00:07:25.200 --> 00:07:26.700
or you're just tweeting something --

00:07:26.700 --> 00:07:32.590
and it's sort of just you and your device,
not really understanding the ripple effect.

00:07:32.590 --> 00:07:36.660
So he went through this period
where everything he was saying

00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:37.980
was taken out of context.

00:07:37.980 --> 00:07:43.050
-Stage one of getting my life back
together is getting rid of Twitter.

00:07:43.050 --> 00:07:47.310
Stage two is probably getting
to the Verizon flip phone.

00:07:47.310 --> 00:07:49.920
No Twitter, no texting.

00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.880
You can check email from a laptop.

00:07:53.880 --> 00:07:54.480
- OK.

00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:55.565
But you have to...

00:07:55.565 --> 00:07:57.690
Oh, and you can read emails
and you can read texts,

00:07:57.690 --> 00:07:59.449
but you have to return with a phone call.

00:07:59.449 --> 00:08:00.240
That's what it was.

00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:00.740
-Man.

00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:03.406
-And then you start realizing
people stop communicating with you

00:08:03.406 --> 00:08:05.340
once you hold them to making a phone call --

00:08:05.340 --> 00:08:08.160
which is beautiful, because
then you just sort of go quiet.

00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:10.500
And then within a couple
of days, I started having

00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:12.840
like just slightly larger, better ideas.

00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:15.990
-So I thought it was
interesting when he was saying,

00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:19.780
"I have to do this digital
cleanse to get my head straight."

00:08:19.780 --> 00:08:24.660
So then the psychologist in me, I'm
going, so what is it doing to your head?

00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:26.940
What is it actually doing to your head?

00:08:26.940 --> 00:08:32.400
So that's when I had this inspiration

00:08:32.400 --> 00:08:38.145
during our interpersonal communication class
to be able to incorporate that as part of,

00:08:38.145 --> 00:08:44.490
let's see how it feels to go more
authentic on our one-to-one communication

00:08:44.490 --> 00:08:51.540
than to be focusing on our
digital devices to connect.

00:08:51.540 --> 00:08:55.155
-Here we are in class, and Joni
tells us that for our final project,

00:08:55.155 --> 00:09:01.620
we to have you go ahead and give up our cell
phone and all internet for a whole week.

00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:05.220
And my first reaction was...

00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:08.400
immediate reaction is like,
how can I get out of this?

00:09:08.400 --> 00:09:12.580
How can I not get rid of my phone for
a week and still get an A and still...?

00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:13.490
What did you do?

00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:14.970
-I did the exact same thing.

00:09:14.970 --> 00:09:19.890
I walked out of that classroom and thought,
maybe I can get away with not doing this.

00:09:19.890 --> 00:09:22.140
I can actually just cheat
my way through this.

00:09:22.140 --> 00:09:25.530
-When I first mention it
the first week of school,

00:09:25.530 --> 00:09:29.940
most students are not happy, not thrilled.

00:09:29.940 --> 00:09:33.410
-My roommate was telling me
about how he was in your class

00:09:33.410 --> 00:09:35.950
and they made you did the
digital cleanse and everything.

00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:39.201
And I was just like, no, no, no.

00:09:39.201 --> 00:09:40.450
He's like, you should take it.

00:09:40.450 --> 00:09:41.710
I was like, I would die in that class.

00:09:41.710 --> 00:09:42.510
She would hate me.

00:09:42.510 --> 00:09:44.600
She would actually hate me.

00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:48.480
I can never put myself through that ever.

00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.120
-This lady's bulls--t.

00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:55.540
Who does she think she
is coming into my life,

00:09:55.540 --> 00:10:02.920
being one or two generations
older than me, thinking she knows

00:10:02.920 --> 00:10:07.510
how to correctly be social with people?

00:10:07.510 --> 00:10:14.380
My life's been archived on Facebook with
pictures, videos, wall posts since 2007.

00:10:14.380 --> 00:10:16.750
Her life has never been like that.

00:10:16.750 --> 00:10:18.910
And I grew up on Facebook.

00:10:18.910 --> 00:10:21.610
-I'm not doing this, screw that, it's crap.

00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:24.220
It's not going to make me learn anything.

00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:26.050
-This is ridiculous.

00:10:26.050 --> 00:10:30.231
It was like my initial reaction
was that I didn't need it.

00:10:30.231 --> 00:10:32.230
There was no reason that
I should have to do it,

00:10:32.230 --> 00:10:35.480
because I didn't think that
I was attached to my phone.

00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:36.710
I was like, this is nothing.

00:10:36.710 --> 00:10:38.080
I sort of blew it off.

00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.970
And I was like, this lady's crazy.

00:10:39.970 --> 00:10:40.910
I don't even...

00:10:40.910 --> 00:10:41.770
I don't know.

00:10:41.770 --> 00:10:42.700
-You need a device.

00:10:42.700 --> 00:10:43.420
You need a phone.

00:10:43.420 --> 00:10:44.350
You need Facebook.

00:10:44.350 --> 00:10:45.920
You need social media.

00:10:45.920 --> 00:10:50.110
So the message that this
generation is getting is,

00:10:50.110 --> 00:10:53.590
I can't connect with somebody
if I don't have a thing.

00:10:53.590 --> 00:10:54.910
I need some "thing."

00:10:54.910 --> 00:10:58.180
-But when it came down to do
the actual digital cleanse,

00:10:58.180 --> 00:11:01.700
I found myself becoming quite
in tune with this project.

00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:03.730
And I wanted to do it.

00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:05.950
I wanted to remove myself from my phone.

00:11:05.950 --> 00:11:10.210
-After a few weeks and some of
these precursor lessons to it --

00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:13.420
because I think we did eight or nine
weeks before anyone even started

00:11:13.420 --> 00:11:14.800
doing the cleanse --

00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:17.740
all of a sudden it was
this very different shift.

00:11:17.740 --> 00:11:21.040
And students were like, "You know what?

00:11:21.040 --> 00:11:21.940
I want to try it.

00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:24.190
I really want to see where I am."

00:11:24.190 --> 00:11:29.830
-After just a few weeks of getting to know
Joni, getting to know her teaching styles

00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:34.060
and how she connects with
the students, it was...

00:11:34.060 --> 00:11:38.900
it almost felt mandatory in my
brain to do the digital cleanse.

00:11:38.900 --> 00:11:44.320
-It's not so much about being graded on "You
either pass or fail this digital cleanse."

00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.700
It's, "Let's collect this data.

00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:48.580
Let's learn about you."

00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:54.870
So what I found was week after week,
understanding what we need as humans --

00:11:54.870 --> 00:12:00.100
the types of connections that we
need to learn about ourselves,

00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:03.440
to learn about our relationships --

00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:08.550
students started to be more curious
and wanted to know about themselves.

00:12:08.550 --> 00:12:10.100
-I wanted human connection again.

00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:12.800
I didn't want to be a
painting on somebody's wall.

00:12:12.800 --> 00:12:15.920
I didn't want to be like the
tree that was going by on the T.

00:12:15.920 --> 00:12:18.620
I wanted to be in people's faces.

00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:24.440
-What we did was, we would have them use a
little flipper camera at the end of the day

00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:25.670
and do a journal.

00:12:25.670 --> 00:12:27.490
-This is my first journal entry.

00:12:27.490 --> 00:12:28.430
It's day one.

00:12:30.560 --> 00:12:34.390
-I think I'll be fine without the computer.

00:12:34.390 --> 00:12:37.540
I can go a few days without internet.

00:12:37.540 --> 00:12:40.670
But my phone...

00:12:40.670 --> 00:12:42.620
It's weird not having a phone.

00:12:42.620 --> 00:12:46.340
-I find myself reaching in
my pocket for my phone a lot.

00:12:46.340 --> 00:12:50.960
-This little green light, you see that?

00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:54.710
That is going to taunt me for a week.

00:12:54.710 --> 00:12:59.270
And we'll see how this goes,
because I love me some Facebook.

00:12:59.270 --> 00:13:04.600
-You're at a party, a going-away
party for one of our good friends.

00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:06.580
Every single person had their phone out.

00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:15.440
Whoever is on the other line of that phone
is more important than this farewell.

00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:17.920
-I need something to do.

00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:20.920
I found ways to entertain myself.

00:13:20.920 --> 00:13:23.680
I need to read, apparently.

00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:26.570
I'm on my 45-minute break.

00:13:26.570 --> 00:13:29.060
It's been about 40 minutes.

00:13:29.060 --> 00:13:34.454
And I've been sitting here doing
absolutely nothing for 40 minutes.

00:13:34.454 --> 00:13:36.340
This sucks.

00:13:36.340 --> 00:13:41.230
-And I realized at 1:00 AM that
I missed the last train home.

00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:46.400
And that meant I was in the
middle of Boston with no phone

00:13:46.400 --> 00:13:48.960
and no public transportation and no money.

00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.379
I don't really like this
not having a phone thing.

00:13:51.379 --> 00:13:52.357
It's like...

00:14:07.520 --> 00:14:08.540
-Talking is work.

00:14:08.540 --> 00:14:11.630
You've got to make facial expressions
that go with what you're saying,

00:14:11.630 --> 00:14:13.340
different hand gestures.

00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:14.660
You've got to suck air in.

00:14:14.660 --> 00:14:17.120
You've got to blow it out.

00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:18.350
Talking is over.

00:14:18.350 --> 00:14:19.530
It's obsolete.

00:14:19.530 --> 00:14:20.510
It's antiquated.

00:14:20.510 --> 00:14:24.882
I feel like a blacksmith up here
sometimes, to tell you the truth.

00:14:24.882 --> 00:14:26.840
If you want, I could text
you this whole thing.

00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:28.173
We can get the hell out of here.

00:14:33.180 --> 00:14:37.350
-We've all known that the human
interaction completely brings out

00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:39.120
the best aspects and the worst aspects

00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.100
of who you are as an individual.

00:14:41.100 --> 00:14:47.400
But in the digital age, it's a
completely different trainwreck.

00:14:47.400 --> 00:14:50.370
We were the young teenagers that it just...

00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:52.160
they engraved it into us like,

00:14:52.160 --> 00:14:53.520
"This is a new device.

00:14:53.520 --> 00:14:55.650
This is how we're all
going to communicate now.

00:14:55.650 --> 00:14:56.580
Listen.

00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:57.540
Take this note."

00:14:57.540 --> 00:15:03.720
-So my very first cell phone was in
eighth grade, and it was a flip phone.

00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:07.060
It was a color screen,
which was new on the market.

00:15:07.060 --> 00:15:09.690
And I don't know, I just
thought it was hot s---

00:15:09.690 --> 00:15:11.932
because it had a camera, it was in color,

00:15:11.932 --> 00:15:13.140
and it also had the internet.

00:15:13.140 --> 00:15:18.450
And I remember the first day
I got it, I was up all night.

00:15:18.450 --> 00:15:22.830
And I was just amazed by this new
piece of technology that could get me

00:15:22.830 --> 00:15:25.110
anywhere I wanted to go on the web

00:15:25.110 --> 00:15:26.100
in the palm of my hand.

00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:29.849
-My friends could only be
reached through text messaging.

00:15:29.849 --> 00:15:31.140
And I kept trying to call them.

00:15:31.140 --> 00:15:33.660
Listen, I can't use all my text messages.

00:15:33.660 --> 00:15:35.010
I have to use my phone.

00:15:35.010 --> 00:15:36.000
Come on!

00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.360
-I definitely, like any
other kid, ran with that.

00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.870
I had a girlfriend, I would
text her all the time.

00:15:41.870 --> 00:15:45.240
I remember breaking the 500 a month thing

00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.130
and getting that bill from my father.

00:15:47.130 --> 00:15:47.630
-Beth Ann?

00:15:47.630 --> 00:15:49.410
-W U?

00:15:49.410 --> 00:15:51.140
-Your cell phone bill is what's up.

00:15:51.140 --> 00:15:52.320
All this texting.

00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:53.640
- OMG, INBD!

00:15:53.640 --> 00:15:54.920
-It is a big deal!

00:15:54.920 --> 00:15:56.970
Who are you texting 50 times a day?

00:15:56.970 --> 00:15:59.500
-IDK, my BFF Jill.

00:15:59.500 --> 00:16:02.110
-Tell your BFF Jill that
I'm taking away your phone.

00:16:02.110 --> 00:16:03.200
- TISNF!

00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:06.340
-Me paying this bill, that's what's S...NF!

00:16:06.340 --> 00:16:07.800
-Remember the pay phone?

00:16:07.800 --> 00:16:09.030
Remember the land line?

00:16:09.030 --> 00:16:12.450
Remember endless hours talking on the phone?

00:16:12.450 --> 00:16:15.660
They all seem to be becoming
a thing of the past.

00:16:15.660 --> 00:16:20.480
So we took a look at just why we've
fallen out of love with the phone call.

00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:23.100
-When you think about it, it's
a disastrously bad technology.

00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:29.220
-Clive Thompson of Wired Magazine recently
predicted the death of the phone call.

00:16:29.220 --> 00:16:31.260
- It's dying because it deserves to die.

00:16:31.260 --> 00:16:34.020
People are migrating away because
they have these other avenues

00:16:34.020 --> 00:16:38.010
that are actually more
useful and more satisfying.

00:16:38.010 --> 00:16:40.050
-I became more of an avid cell phone user

00:16:40.050 --> 00:16:42.750
because I got texting my
sophomore year of high school.

00:16:42.750 --> 00:16:45.720
So I was very hooked to texting.

00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:49.080
-Everybody was pushing
us into the technology.

00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.000
It's a little unnerving now,

00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:53.851
knowing that we were shoved
into this generation.

00:16:53.851 --> 00:16:55.600
-People would text me, and I'd get so mad.

00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:56.880
I'd be like, don't text me.

00:16:56.880 --> 00:16:58.090
I can't text you back.

00:16:58.090 --> 00:16:59.530
I don't want to text.

00:16:59.530 --> 00:17:00.540
I don't want this.

00:17:00.540 --> 00:17:05.790
-I realized people started using
this new communication during class.

00:17:05.790 --> 00:17:08.682
And I'd be sitting taking
a test or something

00:17:08.682 --> 00:17:10.140
and I'd feel the buzz in my pocket.

00:17:10.140 --> 00:17:11.819
I'd be like, oh, someone wants to...

00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:12.900
That's weird.

00:17:12.900 --> 00:17:14.410
Someone wants to text me right now?

00:17:14.410 --> 00:17:17.280
But I kind of felt special in a way.

00:17:17.280 --> 00:17:18.849
I was like, OK.

00:17:18.849 --> 00:17:20.140
I'll talk to someone right now.

00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:20.970
It passes time.

00:17:20.970 --> 00:17:24.420
It distracts me from what I'm really
supposed to be learning at the moment.

00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.280
Like a drug, you just...

00:17:26.280 --> 00:17:30.960
the more they gave me, the more
texting they gave me, the more I used.

00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:33.750
So I kept going over and
over and over every month.

00:17:41.770 --> 00:17:43.000
-Easily, you get lost.

00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:47.180
And I did that and wasted a
lot of my time, it felt like,

00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:54.610
because over 500 texts at moments, car
rides I'd spent completely on my phone.

00:17:54.610 --> 00:17:57.010
My parents would be like,
"Who are you talking to?"

00:17:57.010 --> 00:17:58.719
I went, nothing, nothing.

00:17:58.719 --> 00:18:00.010
I wouldn't talk to them at all.

00:18:00.010 --> 00:18:06.260
-The mass message is, "You need this...",
fill in the blank, "to connect."

00:18:06.260 --> 00:18:11.980
-We threw the phone and the computer
out there as your best friend

00:18:11.980 --> 00:18:13.930
to help you out with anything.

00:18:13.930 --> 00:18:17.860
-And then eventually they came out, I
think junior year, with unlimited texting.

00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:24.750
-So for parents at this time,
this made perfect sense.

00:18:24.750 --> 00:18:28.140
We'll opt into the unlimited
texting option, thinking well,

00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:30.140
they're going to be texting
all the time anyway,

00:18:30.140 --> 00:18:33.920
so at least the unlimited plan
is going to save us money.

00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:35.480
But for kids...

00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:39.605
-It was an unlimited distraction
along with unlimited texts --

00:18:43.190 --> 00:18:47.210
communicating whenever
you wanted without a cost.

00:18:47.210 --> 00:18:50.170
-Or so we thought at the time.

00:18:50.170 --> 00:18:55.210
-I just sent a really mean
text to the wrong person --

00:18:55.210 --> 00:18:56.840
but that was about that person.

00:18:56.840 --> 00:18:58.860
And I was just like... my heart...

00:18:58.860 --> 00:19:00.850
I just remember adrenaline,
like, oh, my god.

00:19:00.850 --> 00:19:02.530
I can't take that text back.

00:19:02.530 --> 00:19:06.100
She texted me, I remember,
asking me for a ride home.

00:19:06.100 --> 00:19:07.810
And I never responded.

00:19:07.810 --> 00:19:13.266
So I'm now texting my friend, "Oh
my god, so-and-so wants a ride,

00:19:13.266 --> 00:19:14.140
can you believe that?

00:19:14.140 --> 00:19:14.980
What a mooch."

00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:17.590
And I'm ragging on her and ragging on her.

00:19:17.590 --> 00:19:22.360
And I'm driving away from the
school, and I see this girl walk out

00:19:22.360 --> 00:19:24.310
kind of looking for my car.

00:19:24.310 --> 00:19:27.370
And I whip up my phone, as
I'm still in the parking lot.

00:19:27.370 --> 00:19:28.840
And I'm like, "Oh, my god.

00:19:28.840 --> 00:19:31.780
She just came out in the parking
lot and was looking for my car.

00:19:31.780 --> 00:19:32.370
What a mooch.

00:19:32.370 --> 00:19:34.300
She's so pathetic."

00:19:34.300 --> 00:19:36.040
That text sent to her.

00:19:36.040 --> 00:19:40.444
And I instantly dropped
my phone and shut it off.

00:19:40.444 --> 00:19:42.610
That was probably the first
moment I realized, like,

00:19:42.610 --> 00:19:50.500
this is not always a good way of doing that.

00:19:52.930 --> 00:19:55.870
-Sexual arousements with
my girlfriend came over me.

00:20:03.650 --> 00:20:07.260
I wanted to have a connection with
her that we couldn't have physically.

00:20:07.260 --> 00:20:13.280
And we knew the only way possible
was through the text messages

00:20:13.280 --> 00:20:15.230
that we would text each other all the time.

00:20:15.230 --> 00:20:18.844
So I decided to text an inappropriate
picture of myself to her.

00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:30.750
I left my phone, the same phone I took
the picture on, I left it on a train.

00:20:30.750 --> 00:20:34.930
I got into school and I walked out of
school that day and I had my mom's phone.

00:20:34.930 --> 00:20:37.680
I unflipped it after I got out of
school when I first got service,

00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:39.870
and I saw the picture
that I had taken of myself

00:20:39.870 --> 00:20:42.240
and sent to my girlfriend
on my mother's phone.

00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.650
They sent it to everybody.

00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:44.940
They sent it to my parents.

00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:45.765
They sent it to my grandparents.

00:20:45.765 --> 00:20:48.180
They sent it to my girlfriend's
parents at the time.

00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:50.670
They sent it to her grandparents.

00:20:50.670 --> 00:20:55.770
They sent it to 42 kids who were
under the age of 18 at my school.

00:20:55.770 --> 00:20:59.422
I was the top goalkeeper
for their soccer team,

00:20:59.422 --> 00:21:00.630
part of everything like that.

00:21:00.630 --> 00:21:02.280
We had a great season that year --

00:21:02.280 --> 00:21:04.890
best season to ever come
through the high school.

00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:08.370
But everyone remembered me as the kid
who got expelled for sexual offense.

00:21:13.310 --> 00:21:14.960
-I feel like the day's just gloomy

00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.280
because I'm afraid that
something's going to happen

00:21:16.280 --> 00:21:17.738
and I'm not going to have my phone.

00:21:17.738 --> 00:21:18.820
And I'm panicking.

00:21:18.820 --> 00:21:21.600
I'm like, how the hell did
people do this like 10 years ago?

00:21:21.600 --> 00:21:23.270
-It's actually kind of a good feeling.

00:21:23.270 --> 00:21:25.850
It's invigorating to be out in the world.

00:21:25.850 --> 00:21:29.520
Usually I always listen to my music when I'm
on my way to class or something like that,

00:21:29.520 --> 00:21:31.520
and I don't really talk to anybody.

00:21:31.520 --> 00:21:35.530
But I interacted with strangers, give them
a smile, a wave or something like that.

00:21:35.530 --> 00:21:36.830
And it was a lot of fun today.

00:21:36.830 --> 00:21:41.090
-We had one student that the first
couple of days, he was like...

00:21:41.090 --> 00:21:42.620
He looked like death.

00:21:42.620 --> 00:21:44.750
-Last night, I was too tired.

00:21:44.750 --> 00:21:48.650
-He was tired, and he's insomniac.

00:21:48.650 --> 00:21:50.530
-So today is my second day.

00:21:53.150 --> 00:21:56.780
We went to the mall and stuff.

00:21:56.780 --> 00:22:01.680
-And then by the fourth
day he's awake, alert,

00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:03.650
and he's like, "I feel so much better."

00:22:03.650 --> 00:22:10.920
-Something I noticed, I always
thought I suffer from insomnia.

00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:16.040
Now that I don't have that distraction
with me, the cell phone or the computer,

00:22:16.040 --> 00:22:19.130
I go to sleep in like 15 minutes.

00:22:19.130 --> 00:22:21.800
It's really weird, but
it's really awesome too.

00:22:21.800 --> 00:22:23.440
-Certain things start happening.

00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:29.180
I keep thinking, I want to post
this on Facebook or something.

00:22:29.180 --> 00:22:30.780
And I don't know why I think that way.

00:22:30.780 --> 00:22:31.740
I don't why.

00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:34.220
And I keep thinking if I'm
gonna go back to Facebook

00:22:34.220 --> 00:22:38.600
after this, because I've
been fine without it.

00:22:38.600 --> 00:22:41.820
-Time isn't an issue when
you don't have your phone,

00:22:41.820 --> 00:22:45.415
and you have a lot more time on your hands.

00:22:45.415 --> 00:22:46.790
You're not stressed out about it.

00:22:51.020 --> 00:22:55.810
-You need to build an ability to just
be yourself and not be doing something.

00:22:55.810 --> 00:22:57.850
That's what the phones are taking away,

00:22:57.850 --> 00:23:00.580
is the ability to just sit there like this.

00:23:00.580 --> 00:23:01.890
That's being a person.

00:23:01.890 --> 00:23:02.520
And I go, OK.

00:23:02.520 --> 00:23:04.220
I'm getting sad.

00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:08.295
I've got to get the phone and
write "Hi" to like 50 people.

00:23:08.295 --> 00:23:11.670
And then somebody cool writes back, and
then somebody's not as cool writes after.

00:23:11.670 --> 00:23:15.520
And I'm like f--- you, I'm
not going to talk to you.

00:23:15.520 --> 00:23:21.970
-I feel like people are afraid
of the free time sometimes.

00:23:21.970 --> 00:23:27.405
They use their phones or they use
something else to escape from that time.

00:23:31.140 --> 00:23:36.130
-Research is now revealing that our
reliance on our digital technology

00:23:36.130 --> 00:23:39.670
has actually altered the
development of our human apps,

00:23:39.670 --> 00:23:43.030
which has resulted in some
unintended consequences.

00:23:48.900 --> 00:23:51.930
Because of the multi-tasking
nature of our technology,

00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:56.850
millennials will be consuming
some 18 hours a day of media.

00:23:56.850 --> 00:24:01.800
Health expert's report a correlation of
heavy media consumption with increasing

00:24:01.800 --> 00:24:09.510
levels of addiction, stress, anxiety,
OCD, depression, panic attacks,

00:24:09.510 --> 00:24:14.460
attention deficit disorders,
public humiliation, narcissism,

00:24:14.460 --> 00:24:18.390
self-centered behavior, and
even suicidal thoughts --

00:24:18.390 --> 00:24:25.890
along with a decrease in empathy,
self-reliance, self-esteem, autonomy,

00:24:25.890 --> 00:24:29.820
declining GPAs, and social
skills, particularly

00:24:29.820 --> 00:24:32.760
for those in the digitally
socialized generation.

00:24:32.760 --> 00:24:34.330
-I can't answer the phone.

00:24:34.330 --> 00:24:34.830
I can't.

00:24:34.830 --> 00:24:37.320
If someone calls me I get
too scared, I can't do it.

00:24:37.320 --> 00:24:38.670
I cannot make phone calls.

00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:40.260
I can't even call for pizza.

00:24:40.260 --> 00:24:44.220
I will not order pizza or anything
unless it has an online option.

00:24:46.910 --> 00:24:52.960
I think it's just actually physically
instantly hearing responses

00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:54.546
from another physical person.

00:24:54.546 --> 00:24:57.670
Even though you know it's all over the
phone, I can still hear their voice.

00:24:57.670 --> 00:25:02.740
With a text or an email, I can
send it, and then, like, wait.

00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:04.490
And I can ignore their response if I want.

00:25:04.490 --> 00:25:04.989
Want.

00:25:04.989 --> 00:25:08.530
I'll see that little icon that says I have
a voicemail, and I'll just stare at it

00:25:08.530 --> 00:25:10.320
and be like no, no, no, no, no.

00:25:10.320 --> 00:25:14.260
And I will actually hold my phone
away from me and click the voicemail,

00:25:14.260 --> 00:25:16.720
and then delete it instantly
before I can hear anyone talk.

00:25:21.320 --> 00:25:22.030
I don't know.

00:25:22.030 --> 00:25:23.550
It's very irrational.

00:25:23.550 --> 00:25:26.456
It's so irrational, absolutely irrational.

00:25:34.730 --> 00:25:38.480
-At the age where kids developmentally
are seeking independence,

00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:43.190
the millennials were the first generation
who remained tethered to their parents

00:25:43.190 --> 00:25:44.750
through the technology.

00:25:44.750 --> 00:25:47.810
-I didn't get my phone till I was 13,
and it was because my mom was like,

00:25:47.810 --> 00:25:50.579
"I need to be able to call you
so I can pick you up from school.

00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:53.120
You need to let me know if things
are going on after school."

00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:55.280
And I just didn't want one.

00:25:55.280 --> 00:25:56.900
-My dad was a truck driver.

00:25:56.900 --> 00:26:00.080
And he needed to keep tabs
on how everything was going.

00:26:00.080 --> 00:26:03.710
That was the safety that I had
in case there was an emergency --

00:26:03.710 --> 00:26:05.667
in case there was anything, contact him.

00:26:05.667 --> 00:26:07.250
-She'd get so mad, because she's like,

00:26:07.250 --> 00:26:09.007
"That is what this thing is for.

00:26:09.007 --> 00:26:10.340
That is what this phone is for."

00:26:10.340 --> 00:26:19.290
-We've been socializing these past two
decade generations with 24/7 connection.

00:26:19.290 --> 00:26:23.450
It really got bad in the past
six years, six to seven years.

00:26:23.450 --> 00:26:27.170
This is all of a sudden we
went from the phone being

00:26:27.170 --> 00:26:30.980
in the backpack for an
emergency, at some point,

00:26:30.980 --> 00:26:33.290
to walking with the Holy Grail.

00:26:39.810 --> 00:26:43.640
-They're addicted to being
connected with people.

00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:46.170
But they're distancing
themselves from people

00:26:46.170 --> 00:26:48.750
by thinking they're connected to people.

00:26:48.750 --> 00:26:49.950
It's very ironic.

00:26:49.950 --> 00:26:52.590
-Think about if you did the same...

00:26:52.590 --> 00:26:57.000
People that have to wash their
hands every five minutes,

00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:00.870
and then they don't feel comfortable --

00:27:00.870 --> 00:27:04.530
they can't think, it's like,
"Oh, I gotta go wash my hands."

00:27:04.530 --> 00:27:06.450
And it's the same behavior with the phone.

00:27:06.450 --> 00:27:08.691
It's like your phone is sitting there.

00:27:08.691 --> 00:27:12.419
It's like, "Ugh, I just
gotta go look at it."

00:27:12.419 --> 00:27:15.210
And they have to look at their
phone to see if they have a message,

00:27:15.210 --> 00:27:17.400
to see if they have the next text.

00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:22.470
And they really can't feel
relaxed and comfortable

00:27:22.470 --> 00:27:26.280
if they don't see it, if they
don't get that behavior out.

00:27:26.280 --> 00:27:29.820
-It's very much an addiction, and
there's no way for someone else

00:27:29.820 --> 00:27:31.870
to say you're not addicted to something.

00:27:31.870 --> 00:27:34.670
There's no way for someone else
to tell you that that's not true.

00:27:34.670 --> 00:27:37.560
-I need to have something, and I need
to be kind of like doing something.

00:27:37.560 --> 00:27:38.310
-But I can't stop.

00:27:38.310 --> 00:27:42.810
Like if I'm on the train, I'm
like, OK, I got to check my Tumblr.

00:27:42.810 --> 00:27:44.730
I got to see what people are doing.

00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:50.040
-When we're spending half of our day
interacting with machinery instead

00:27:50.040 --> 00:27:52.410
of the human beings that we really need...

00:27:52.410 --> 00:27:53.330
-I need it.

00:27:53.330 --> 00:27:54.840
I need it.

00:27:54.840 --> 00:27:56.790
I sleep with my phone in my bed.

00:27:56.790 --> 00:28:02.650
I need my charger with me at all times
because if my phone dies, I can't.

00:28:05.810 --> 00:28:11.820
-As humans, we're hardwired
to bond with one another.

00:28:11.820 --> 00:28:16.010
In the digital age, we turn to our devices.

00:28:16.010 --> 00:28:20.480
We text, we post, we tweet,
hoping to make a connection.

00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.390
But we end up getting
sad when we're ignored.

00:28:23.390 --> 00:28:24.980
So, we try again.

00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:27.650
When we get a response, our happy brain

00:28:27.650 --> 00:28:31.430
actually kicks out happy
chemicals called dopamine.

00:28:31.430 --> 00:28:34.640
It's the same principle as
playing the slot machine.

00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:37.910
We think if we keep playing
we're going to get a payoff.

00:28:37.910 --> 00:28:41.750
But sometimes, it's just
not what we had hoped for.

00:28:41.750 --> 00:28:42.890
So, we try again.

00:28:46.010 --> 00:28:49.800
-I was kind of bad with texting
and stuff like that and Facebook.

00:28:49.800 --> 00:28:53.830
-I hit age 13 and I just stopped going
outside, and I stopped seeing people,

00:28:53.830 --> 00:28:56.630
and I just stayed on the internet all day.

00:28:56.630 --> 00:28:57.630
Well, my sister and I --

00:28:57.630 --> 00:28:58.690
I have a twin.

00:28:58.690 --> 00:29:02.874
My sister and I got our own computers
that we didn't have to fight over one.

00:29:02.874 --> 00:29:04.832
We got our own computers,
that's where we were.

00:29:04.832 --> 00:29:07.160
We'd come home from school, and we'd
just be in front of our computer.

00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:07.826
And that was it.

00:29:07.826 --> 00:29:09.587
And my parents hated that.

00:29:09.587 --> 00:29:11.170
They thought they did something wrong.

00:29:11.170 --> 00:29:13.870
They were just like, "Why
aren't they socializing?"

00:29:13.870 --> 00:29:18.610
We were socializing, just not
with actual physical people.

00:29:18.610 --> 00:29:23.110
-The time between the ages of
12 to 18 is a critical time

00:29:23.110 --> 00:29:27.310
in a person's life for developing
emotional intelligence.

00:29:27.310 --> 00:29:29.590
That's when we learn how to read people

00:29:29.590 --> 00:29:33.250
and develop our social skills
of personal interactions.

00:29:33.250 --> 00:29:34.270
So think about it.

00:29:34.270 --> 00:29:39.790
If during that time, we have a screen in
front of our face instead of a person,

00:29:39.790 --> 00:29:44.260
that part of our social structure
is simply underdeveloped.

00:29:44.260 --> 00:29:48.187
-I would rather talk to you on the
internet than talk to you in person.

00:29:48.187 --> 00:29:50.020
I'm the most socially awkward person I know.

00:29:50.020 --> 00:29:54.100
But I see other people and I'm like,
I know you don't want to talk to me.

00:29:54.100 --> 00:29:56.140
I know that you don't
know how to talk to me.

00:30:01.710 --> 00:30:03.894
I know that I don't know how to talk to you.

00:30:03.894 --> 00:30:06.060
That's why I make jokes
about it to a lot of people.

00:30:06.060 --> 00:30:07.830
I'm just like oh, yeah, I'm addicted --

00:30:07.830 --> 00:30:11.310
trying to make it funny so they're kind
of like, "Oh, she's laughing about it."

00:30:11.310 --> 00:30:14.490
But deep down, I'm like no, this is serious.

00:30:14.490 --> 00:30:18.090
I'm afraid you're going to make
fun of me or judge me harshly

00:30:18.090 --> 00:30:21.540
because it's a serious thing to me.

00:30:21.540 --> 00:30:26.880
I just want other people to realize
that it's kind of a serious thing.

00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:27.660
It's not a joke.

00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:31.350
It's something that's actually
happening in all seriousness.

00:30:39.960 --> 00:30:42.260
People get addicted to alcohol.

00:30:42.260 --> 00:30:43.310
I guess that's different.

00:30:43.310 --> 00:30:44.567
But it's it's not at all.

00:30:44.567 --> 00:30:45.650
It's the same exact thing.

00:30:45.650 --> 00:30:46.490
It's a substance.

00:30:46.490 --> 00:30:48.470
It's something.

00:30:48.470 --> 00:30:52.380
People get addicted to other people.

00:30:52.380 --> 00:30:54.350
I get addicted to my cell phone.

00:30:54.350 --> 00:30:58.400
I want to be comfortable
being by myself without having

00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:00.920
to rely on someone else or something else.

00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:05.930
-Is our dependence with our technology
creating a dehumanizing effect?

00:31:05.930 --> 00:31:10.430
-They have attached Wi-Fi
routers to homeless people,

00:31:10.430 --> 00:31:14.810
making them, in effect,
individual Wi-Fi hotspots.

00:31:14.810 --> 00:31:17.330
-Just look at this shirt
these people have to wear.

00:31:17.330 --> 00:31:20.635
"I'm Mark, a 4G hotspot."

00:31:20.635 --> 00:31:24.110
Not, "I'm Mark, a person with a 4G hotspot,"

00:31:24.110 --> 00:31:28.670
not, "Ask me how I, a
human being named Mark,

00:31:28.670 --> 00:31:31.996
can I help you, another human
being, with internet access."

00:31:31.996 --> 00:31:32.870
None of those things.

00:31:32.870 --> 00:31:35.739
"I am a 4G hotspot."

00:31:35.739 --> 00:31:37.280
I wonder what the passwords could be?

00:31:37.280 --> 00:31:39.650
How about, I don't know, F#@KYOU?

00:31:39.650 --> 00:31:42.560
-Technology is not a means to itself.

00:31:42.560 --> 00:31:45.350
It's a means to other things
that are more important.

00:31:45.350 --> 00:31:49.540
And I think when technology gets in
the way of getting those other things,

00:31:49.540 --> 00:31:51.420
then the technology needs to be removed.

00:31:56.030 --> 00:32:01.745
-If we're given something, such as a phone
or such as technology of that aspect,

00:32:01.745 --> 00:32:06.051
and it's so ahead of what we used to have,

00:32:06.051 --> 00:32:07.800
and when you start getting used to that...

00:32:07.800 --> 00:32:10.920
then when it's taken away --

00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:13.310
no matter what the situation is,

00:32:13.310 --> 00:32:15.110
whether it's technology or not --

00:32:15.110 --> 00:32:15.920
if it's taken away,

00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.410
we just we really do feel lost without it.

00:32:18.410 --> 00:32:20.330
Blows my mind now that I sit back

00:32:20.330 --> 00:32:22.122
and see how much people are on their phone.

00:32:22.122 --> 00:32:24.580
-I'm trying to have a conversation
with her in the kitchen,

00:32:24.580 --> 00:32:26.930
and the whole time she did
not look up at me once.

00:32:26.930 --> 00:32:28.210
And it was...

00:32:28.210 --> 00:32:32.600
I can't even begin to
explain how pissed off I was.

00:32:32.600 --> 00:32:37.280
-So much dependency on one little object.

00:32:37.280 --> 00:32:39.700
You lose it, I used to freak out.

00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:41.430
Now I'd be like,

00:32:41.430 --> 00:32:43.830
I can't hear this person, I
can't talk to this person.

00:32:43.830 --> 00:32:45.120
No one knows what I'm doing.

00:32:45.120 --> 00:32:46.589
I'm not going tonight.

00:32:46.589 --> 00:32:47.380
This is gonna suck!

00:32:47.380 --> 00:32:49.344
Now it would be like, ugh, oh well.

00:32:49.344 --> 00:32:50.510
Got to figure something out.

00:32:50.510 --> 00:32:53.400
-The important people will
call you, not just text you.

00:33:07.900 --> 00:33:10.010
-I was in a relationship
for a few years, and I

00:33:10.010 --> 00:33:14.960
think in the time I was in the relationship
all dating communication went exclusively

00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:15.919
to texts.

00:33:15.919 --> 00:33:17.210
You can't call anybody anymore.

00:33:17.210 --> 00:33:18.350
If you call someone, they're like,

00:33:18.350 --> 00:33:19.010
"What?

00:33:19.010 --> 00:33:19.700
Are you on fire?

00:33:19.700 --> 00:33:21.080
Then quit wasting my time.

00:33:21.080 --> 00:33:24.350
Text me that s---!"

00:33:24.350 --> 00:33:26.550
And I don't like texting
people, especially girls.

00:33:26.550 --> 00:33:28.830
There's always
miscommunication that happens.

00:33:28.830 --> 00:33:31.020
This is a situation I get into all the time.

00:33:31.020 --> 00:33:31.740
I'll text a girl.

00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:32.850
She texts me back right away.

00:33:32.850 --> 00:33:33.870
I text her back right away.

00:33:33.870 --> 00:33:34.980
She texts me back right away.

00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:36.000
I text her back right away.

00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:37.170
She texts me back right away.

00:33:37.170 --> 00:33:38.294
I text her back right away.

00:33:38.294 --> 00:33:39.652
She texts me back right away.

00:33:39.652 --> 00:33:41.610
Then I'll say something
like, "All right, cool.

00:33:41.610 --> 00:33:43.770
So do you want to get pizza on Tuesday?"

00:33:43.770 --> 00:33:45.290
And then I don't hear anything!

00:33:45.290 --> 00:33:46.800
And I'm like, what just happened?

00:33:46.800 --> 00:33:47.850
I know you read that!

00:33:50.670 --> 00:33:55.290
-Every student involved with the project
experienced their own personal benefits

00:33:55.290 --> 00:34:00.390
and really wanted to share what they were
learning with their friends and family.

00:34:00.390 --> 00:34:04.710
So Ben decided to turn the
camera on his younger sister.

00:34:04.710 --> 00:34:08.679
-I am Elise Abbene, and I
go to Weymouth High School.

00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:12.960
I visit Twitter a lot, very often --

00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.889
probably 20 times a day.

00:34:16.889 --> 00:34:19.320
-So even though Ben was
just a few years older,

00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:22.170
he could not believe some of
the stories that he was hearing

00:34:22.170 --> 00:34:24.540
about what high school kids were now doing.

00:34:24.540 --> 00:34:28.889
He was shocked at the level of sexting
and other public humiliation issues

00:34:28.889 --> 00:34:33.449
that were becoming this acceptable
norm at schools everywhere.

00:34:33.449 --> 00:34:37.630
-People will say something
more mean through their text

00:34:37.630 --> 00:34:39.630
than what they'll say to me in person.

00:34:39.630 --> 00:34:42.159
Twitter is for attention.

00:34:42.159 --> 00:34:46.020
I think people will tweet
when they're upset, hoping,

00:34:46.020 --> 00:34:47.040
"Oh, I've got a text.

00:34:47.040 --> 00:34:48.659
Maybe someone will care."

00:34:48.659 --> 00:34:51.540
I think it's causing problems.

00:34:51.540 --> 00:34:54.090
-Ben was interested in learning
whether we could actually

00:34:54.090 --> 00:34:59.280
choose to opt out of the digital
methods but still be connected.

00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:01.860
And he found one high school
kid who was giving it a shot.

00:35:01.860 --> 00:35:03.788
(POP PUNK MUSIC PLAYING)

00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:16.220
-I always thought it was
really redundant and stupid.

00:35:16.220 --> 00:35:17.610
It was just...

00:35:17.610 --> 00:35:18.680
I thought it was weird.

00:35:18.680 --> 00:35:20.840
Why can't you just call the person?

00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:23.070
I had texting and everything.

00:35:23.070 --> 00:35:26.300
But it just went way over the limits,
because everyone kept texting me.

00:35:26.300 --> 00:35:27.664
And then we went to the store.

00:35:27.664 --> 00:35:30.830
And I was like, no, we'll just get rid
of texting and we'll see how it does.

00:35:30.830 --> 00:35:31.920
I always got a really cool reaction

00:35:31.920 --> 00:35:33.461
when I'm like yeah, I don't do texts.

00:35:33.461 --> 00:35:34.361
I don't do Facebook.

00:35:34.361 --> 00:35:35.360
I don't do any of those.

00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:37.940
So you have to call me, and
that's the way I'll talk to you.

00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:42.710
-For teens, developmentally there is
nothing more important than being included.

00:35:42.710 --> 00:35:47.970
And of course, nothing more
threatening than not being included.

00:35:47.970 --> 00:35:50.480
So if the party's going on digitally,

00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:55.250
no matter how mean the environment can
be, if you're not there, you're out.

00:35:55.250 --> 00:35:56.732
-I'm OK with that.

00:35:56.732 --> 00:35:59.440
But there are girls who are like,
"Wow, he doesn't have Facebook.

00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:00.950
He doesn't have texting.

00:36:00.950 --> 00:36:02.060
That's kind of cool.

00:36:02.060 --> 00:36:03.380
He's kind of off the grid.

00:36:03.380 --> 00:36:04.340
I kind of like that."

00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:06.740
No one asks each other on dates anymore.

00:36:06.740 --> 00:36:09.374
No, it's just like, "Hey,
do you want to go out?"

00:36:09.374 --> 00:36:11.040
It's like then you're in a relationship.

00:36:11.040 --> 00:36:15.320
If you're on a date, you expect
that person to be with you,

00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:18.090
not texting a bunch of other people.

00:36:18.090 --> 00:36:21.950
It shows our relationship
is developing, not like,

00:36:21.950 --> 00:36:23.840
"Oh, what are you doing?"

00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:24.736
"On a date."

00:36:24.736 --> 00:36:26.610
Why aren't you talking
to the date right now,

00:36:26.610 --> 00:36:28.560
instead you're talking to someone else?

00:36:28.560 --> 00:36:29.780
That's weird to me.

00:36:29.780 --> 00:36:32.990
-We're not socializing with the value of,

00:36:32.990 --> 00:36:37.280
if you want to connect
with someone, be with them.

00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:41.840
-When I hang out with friends or something,
I feel like after I hang out with them,

00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:45.084
I'll check their Twitters and see
if they post anything of, like,

00:36:45.084 --> 00:36:47.750
what I've said throughout the
night or anything that's happened.

00:36:55.290 --> 00:37:00.450
-I have a huge box of just pictures
from my endeavors with all my friends.

00:37:00.450 --> 00:37:04.020
Everyone's a lot safer with the
fact that they know the pictures

00:37:04.020 --> 00:37:05.740
really won't go anywhere on Facebook.

00:37:05.740 --> 00:37:08.780
So many people just lie, trollers,

00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:11.410
just people who, like,
purposely want to bring you down

00:37:11.410 --> 00:37:14.700
because they have this weird
narcissistic vision of themselves

00:37:14.700 --> 00:37:17.280
to make themselves be
better than everyone else.

00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:19.200
So that's obviously a lie.

00:37:19.200 --> 00:37:23.770
Are they really your friend if you're
saying something bad about them on Twitter?

00:37:23.770 --> 00:37:28.160
-If I get in a fight with a friend,
she'll usually tweet something about me.

00:37:28.160 --> 00:37:31.383
But I'm really not a victim
of tweeting about a friend.

00:37:31.383 --> 00:37:34.257
But it will cause me to get, like,
upset, and then call her out on it

00:37:34.257 --> 00:37:36.420
and be like, why are you tweeting about me?

00:37:36.420 --> 00:37:37.670
"I can tweet whatever I want."

00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:45.110
-Ben was totally determined to get Elise
to take a break from her digital world,

00:37:45.110 --> 00:37:49.040
and thought he'd bring some
support to help make his case.

00:37:49.040 --> 00:37:52.820
-What are you expecting for
when you do the cleanse?

00:37:52.820 --> 00:37:56.115
-If I did the cleanse, I
don't think I could handle

00:37:56.115 --> 00:37:57.740
putting my phone down, shutting it off.

00:37:57.740 --> 00:38:00.140
I would stress out a lot, have anxiety.

00:38:00.140 --> 00:38:02.574
And I'd be thinking
about it the entire time.

00:38:02.574 --> 00:38:05.240
-I ran into one of my friends --
haven't really seen in a while,

00:38:05.240 --> 00:38:08.200
so we didn't have the same
phone numbers anymore.

00:38:08.200 --> 00:38:10.090
It was just kind of out of the blue.

00:38:10.090 --> 00:38:12.150
And I went up to her like hey, yeah,
we've got to hang out some time.

00:38:12.150 --> 00:38:13.775
She's like, "All right, I'll text you."

00:38:13.775 --> 00:38:15.110
I'm like, yeah, I don't text.

00:38:15.110 --> 00:38:15.170
Call me.

00:38:15.170 --> 00:38:17.570
And it was a big thing for her, because
she was like, "I'll just text you."

00:38:17.570 --> 00:38:19.302
I'm like, yeah, I will not get the text.

00:38:19.302 --> 00:38:20.676
And then she ended up calling me.

00:38:20.676 --> 00:38:21.967
She's like, "This is so weird."

00:38:21.967 --> 00:38:25.580
And she had this weird
reaction just calling me.

00:38:25.580 --> 00:38:30.770
-If we didn't have texting, I feel
like maybe girls would call more often

00:38:30.770 --> 00:38:34.550
and become more annoying towards the boys.

00:38:34.550 --> 00:38:38.090
It's worth a shot, because if
I can't do it then I'll know.

00:38:38.090 --> 00:38:39.030
But why not try it?

00:38:39.030 --> 00:38:39.790
-Exactly.

00:38:39.790 --> 00:38:40.670
-And just see.

00:38:40.670 --> 00:38:43.300
And I do think the biggest
difference would be, like,

00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:47.370
getting a lot more done
in my life and stuff.

00:38:47.370 --> 00:38:47.870
-Good luck.

00:38:47.870 --> 00:38:48.858
-Thank you.

00:38:55.280 --> 00:38:58.970
-The things with, like, texting and having
to know all this stuff all the time,

00:38:58.970 --> 00:39:02.740
to be honest it was really
nice to have a break.

00:39:02.740 --> 00:39:04.800
The first two days are tough.

00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:07.007
Thrid day, a little easier.

00:39:07.007 --> 00:39:09.340
Fourth, fifth, and sixth is
when you start to understand

00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:12.790
that things can be done in moderation.

00:39:12.790 --> 00:39:16.070
-It makes me question if I want
to go back to how I used to be.

00:39:16.070 --> 00:39:17.770
-Until you step out of that box,

00:39:17.770 --> 00:39:22.394
that's when you truly see
how much it affects you,

00:39:22.394 --> 00:39:24.060
how much it consumes your everyday life.

00:39:24.060 --> 00:39:25.780
-I seem like I have more time in the day,

00:39:25.780 --> 00:39:29.530
because when I'm texting or
something time just flies by.

00:39:29.530 --> 00:39:31.500
And I don't really realize
it until afterwards.

00:39:31.500 --> 00:39:34.450
My 45-minute breaks now
felt like 45 minute breaks.

00:39:34.450 --> 00:39:37.600
-I officially did the digital cleanse.

00:39:37.600 --> 00:39:41.230
And my whole entire class
did it, because I went in

00:39:41.230 --> 00:39:43.360
and I told my teacher what I was doing.

00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:44.860
And he made it a class assignment.

00:39:44.860 --> 00:39:47.320
I was missing out on things on Twitter.

00:39:47.320 --> 00:39:48.430
I got so much more done.

00:39:48.430 --> 00:39:50.920
I was getting to bed earlier.

00:39:50.920 --> 00:39:53.770
Honestly, Twitter causes problems.

00:39:53.770 --> 00:39:54.730
There's no need for it.

00:39:54.730 --> 00:39:56.630
There's no need for it.

00:39:56.630 --> 00:40:03.210
So I think, although it's hard at first,
everyone is capable of the digital cleanse.

00:40:03.210 --> 00:40:05.904
And everyone should at
least try it and witness it.

00:40:05.904 --> 00:40:07.570
And if you can't do it, you can't do it.

00:40:07.570 --> 00:40:09.390
But you don't know unless you try.

00:40:16.250 --> 00:40:20.280
-The people in your life, they're
so important, aren't they?

00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:22.780
Yeah.

00:40:22.780 --> 00:40:23.280
Really?

00:40:26.061 --> 00:40:29.490
They don't seem very important, not
the way you scroll through their names

00:40:29.490 --> 00:40:32.360
on your contact list like a French King.

00:40:36.844 --> 00:40:40.810
Who pleases me today?

00:40:40.810 --> 00:40:43.730
Who shall I favor?

00:40:43.730 --> 00:40:46.200
Who shall I delete?

00:40:46.200 --> 00:40:47.430
-We're isolating ourselves.

00:40:47.430 --> 00:40:49.030
I think everybody knows it.

00:40:49.030 --> 00:40:50.370
Everybody feels it.

00:40:50.370 --> 00:40:53.220
But we don't quite know what
we're supposed to do about it.

00:40:55.510 --> 00:40:59.050
-Understanding our digital
world is here to stay,

00:40:59.050 --> 00:41:02.500
we came up with a simple
three-step solution.

00:41:02.500 --> 00:41:03.600
Number one: Honesty.

00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:11.060
We can't continue to be so
mesmerized by the technology itself

00:41:11.060 --> 00:41:14.220
that we end up turning a
blind eye to the effects.

00:41:14.220 --> 00:41:18.740
These students have learned firsthand
that our digital connectivity is just not

00:41:18.740 --> 00:41:24.090
a substitute for the benefits that we
get from authentic human interaction.

00:41:24.090 --> 00:41:28.520
If Steve Jobs didn't let his
own kids play with an iPad,

00:41:28.520 --> 00:41:34.620
and other media executives
impose strict limits,

00:41:34.620 --> 00:41:38.385
why isn't this message getting
out to the general public?

00:41:40.740 --> 00:41:45.070
Step two: Embrace boundaries.

00:41:45.070 --> 00:41:47.590
We are, after all, human --

00:41:47.590 --> 00:41:49.540
not microchips.

00:41:49.540 --> 00:41:51.460
So, we need boundaries.

00:41:51.460 --> 00:41:56.740
A human being can really only
manage about 150 relationships.

00:41:56.740 --> 00:42:01.270
The endlessness of connecting
to everyone and everything

00:42:01.270 --> 00:42:04.000
is an unrealistic expectation.

00:42:04.000 --> 00:42:08.030
So we need to set some limits.

00:42:08.030 --> 00:42:10.970
We're being asked to connect all day long.

00:42:10.970 --> 00:42:14.720
So as the receiver of the request,
we have to ask ourselves, 'All right,

00:42:14.720 --> 00:42:17.000
is this personal or impersonal?

00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:23.670
Am I being asked to be an actual friend,
or am I being asked to be an audience?"

00:42:23.670 --> 00:42:27.740
Impersonal, as in "wanting
me as a demographic."

00:42:27.740 --> 00:42:32.840
So remember, a few gems on one
side actually may be more valuable

00:42:32.840 --> 00:42:35.600
than a lot of junk on the other side.

00:42:35.600 --> 00:42:40.580
So ask yourself, which
would you rather have?

00:42:40.580 --> 00:42:46.940
-We use our technology today as this
very fluid, "I have a thought..."

00:42:46.940 --> 00:42:48.560
sort of stream of consciousness.

00:42:48.560 --> 00:42:53.420
But in the digital age, our stream
of consciousness communication --

00:42:53.420 --> 00:42:57.170
If you had a thought, there's no filter.

00:42:57.170 --> 00:43:03.440
And we're using mass communication
for our very personal thoughts.

00:43:03.440 --> 00:43:07.960
-Step three: It's time
for a universal protocol.

00:43:07.960 --> 00:43:12.140
Our communication technology never
actually came with any guidelines

00:43:12.140 --> 00:43:14.150
for use within our society.

00:43:14.150 --> 00:43:17.420
So class after class we
discussed this, we voted,

00:43:17.420 --> 00:43:20.032
and we actually came up with this consensus.

00:43:23.080 --> 00:43:27.600
Think -- what's the objective of
the message that I'm going to send?

00:43:27.600 --> 00:43:31.890
Is this going to be a personal
message or a public message?

00:43:31.890 --> 00:43:35.340
We now have these tools that
give every single person

00:43:35.340 --> 00:43:38.440
the ability to reach millions.

00:43:38.440 --> 00:43:43.560
And if that's the objective, personal
communication tools like social media

00:43:43.560 --> 00:43:48.420
can be more effective
but still less personal.

00:43:48.420 --> 00:43:51.570
If we want to make that
connection a bit more personal,

00:43:51.570 --> 00:43:56.640
we have to jump up a step to
options that involve fewer people.

00:43:56.640 --> 00:43:59.670
Remember, the medium is the message.

00:43:59.670 --> 00:44:03.960
And tools that take more time
and energy tells that person

00:44:03.960 --> 00:44:07.200
that they're worth your time and energy.

00:44:07.200 --> 00:44:11.990
And tools that show your focused
attention, your spontaneous emotion,

00:44:11.990 --> 00:44:16.860
your sound and vibe allow
for deeper connections.

00:44:16.860 --> 00:44:22.530
And for the most personal connection
-- when we can touch, sense, feel --

00:44:22.530 --> 00:44:25.500
we actually don't need any tools at all.

00:44:33.940 --> 00:44:36.880
A year later, we checked
in and we found we came up

00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:41.050
with something that actually
gives us the best of both worlds.

00:44:41.050 --> 00:44:43.060
-For me to just sit here
and be like, "Yeah, no,

00:44:43.060 --> 00:44:46.180
this is something that's
definitely affecting me"

00:44:46.180 --> 00:44:48.010
is more than I would have said months ago.

00:44:48.010 --> 00:44:49.843
I would have laughed about it and been like,

00:44:49.843 --> 00:44:53.620
OK, I'm going to go back to my computer now.

00:44:53.620 --> 00:44:58.390
-After we filmed, I got really
curious about what Facebook

00:44:58.390 --> 00:45:01.765
and all the social media was like.

00:45:01.765 --> 00:45:04.930
And it's like peering in someone
else's life, like looking in a window.

00:45:04.930 --> 00:45:10.270
-We keep looking at all this
technology and it seems really amazing,

00:45:10.270 --> 00:45:14.650
and there's an app for everything and
everyone's all intrigued and enthralled.

00:45:14.650 --> 00:45:17.860
However, nobody's really feeling fulfilled.

00:45:17.860 --> 00:45:21.250
-When I'm with my girlfriend,
we'll leave the phones in the car.

00:45:21.250 --> 00:45:25.240
I don't feel like I need my
phone, because I have her.

00:45:25.240 --> 00:45:26.680
It's such a great feeling.

00:45:26.680 --> 00:45:32.170
And you can't get that if you
don't interact with somebody.

00:45:32.170 --> 00:45:33.590
-The data is out.

00:45:33.590 --> 00:45:37.570
We're starting to see the results
of why we don't feel good.

00:45:37.570 --> 00:45:39.850
And it's because it's not fulfilling.

00:45:39.850 --> 00:45:44.680
It's not feeding the soul in the way
that humans are supposed to connect.

00:45:44.680 --> 00:45:47.560
-Communicating, talking to people,

00:45:47.560 --> 00:45:51.150
flipping somebody off,
just showing expression...

00:45:51.150 --> 00:45:54.280
-If you keep continuing to
sit in front of your computer

00:45:54.280 --> 00:45:57.550
and decide to have discussions
with your friends that way,

00:45:57.550 --> 00:46:02.170
and to live your life at home with a
laptop in front of you watching TV,

00:46:02.170 --> 00:46:06.100
then you can't expect to be
happy later on down the road

00:46:06.100 --> 00:46:08.810
when these kind of relationships
don't exist in real life.

00:46:08.810 --> 00:46:13.030
-It wasn't meant to be just
in your face the whole time,

00:46:13.030 --> 00:46:15.500
and you're losing the connection.

00:46:15.500 --> 00:46:18.040
-I didn't know that there were
actual chemicals in the brain

00:46:18.040 --> 00:46:21.160
that needed face-to-face conversation.

00:46:21.160 --> 00:46:25.390
I thought there was this easy access to
get on Facebook and have conversations,

00:46:25.390 --> 00:46:26.800
and that would fulfill it.

00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:31.600
-If we can communicate with somebody 24/7,
and we have all this great technology,

00:46:31.600 --> 00:46:33.190
why don't I feel better?

00:46:33.190 --> 00:46:36.280
-The impact it had on my
relationships with these people

00:46:36.280 --> 00:46:38.920
was that I started becoming closer to them,

00:46:38.920 --> 00:46:41.620
because I was actually taking
the time to look at them.

00:46:41.620 --> 00:46:49.690
-I just felt my connections with my
friends and family were now stronger,

00:46:49.690 --> 00:46:59.240
because we eliminated this instant push of
non-personal messages throughout the day.

00:46:59.240 --> 00:47:02.770
-It's not anti-technology, it's pro-human.

00:47:02.770 --> 00:47:06.950
It's about really connecting
on an authentic level.

00:47:06.950 --> 00:47:13.340
-You're cannot take human interaction out of
the equation, because that's how it began.

00:47:13.340 --> 00:47:16.430
And that's the only way to keep it going.

00:47:16.430 --> 00:47:20.905
-(SINGING) Let's run away together,
let's just leave right now.

00:47:27.076 --> 00:47:31.315
Gotta get out of here,
gotta leave this town.

00:47:37.213 --> 00:47:39.830
-(SINGING) Throw my body
to the bottom of the sea,

00:47:39.830 --> 00:47:43.840
but don't look back until you find me.

00:47:43.840 --> 00:47:45.590
-(SINGING) Let's run away together.

00:47:45.590 --> 00:47:47.250
Let's run away together.

00:47:47.250 --> 00:47:53.046
Throw my body to the bottom of the sea,
but don't look back until you find me.

00:47:53.046 --> 00:47:54.560
Let's run away together.

00:47:54.560 --> 00:47:57.840
Let's run away together.

00:47:57.840 --> 00:48:04.010
Throw my body to the bottom of the sea,
but I don't look back until you find me.

00:48:04.010 --> 00:48:05.904
Let's run away together.

00:48:05.904 --> 00:48:10.190
Let's run away together right now.