Introduction
This school year, thousands of students will walk into classrooms where smartphones are no longer welcome. From Oklahoma’s bell-to-bell restrictions to New York City’s full-campus prohibition, educators nationwide are aiming to restore stronger academic performance and richer social engagement among students.
Senators, Governors, and school teachers are responding to growing concerns about tech addiction, mental health, and the erosion of community across our country. As you may know, numerous studies have demonstrated that even the mere presence of a smartphone can impair cognitive performance and diminish interpersonal engagement.1 By removing the devices, schools are hoping to create space for deeper learning, spontaneous creativity, and the kind of boredom that often sparks imagination.
I, for one, welcome this change. It’s a chance to see what student life looks like without being besieged by nonstop information every moment of the day. It will be daunting for many. Thus, in this short piece, I will offer two suggestions and some recommendations for which device to give your child this learning season.
Model the Shift at Home
Before we get into device options, let’s talk about what this shift means at home. I still remember the thrill of seeing a few friends at school with the newly released Tamagotchi. Feeding that pixelated creature and watching it grow felt like magic. I begged my parents for weeks to get me one. After about four (very persistent) weeks, they finally gave in. I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t the most careful digital pet owner. The creature didn’t make it to adulthood under my tutelage.
Psychologists call my experience mimetic desire. It’s the human tendency to look to others as models and want what they want. Indeed to be catalogued as one of our most powerful and fascinating traits. Sometimes it’s positive, inspiring growth and connection. Other times destructive, fueled by envy and imitation. Yet, this trait reveals something about our humanity: we’re wired to imitate what we find exciting, useful, or socially rewarding.
Thus, when your children come home from school, suddenly deprived of the dopamine hits they used to get from constant phone use, it’s natural for them to seek that stimulation. They’ll try to find it in television, tablets, or TikTok. This is where parents play a crucial role. Modeling a simpler, more intentional life at home reinforces the shift happening at school.
If they come back home and you are indulging in social media, they will want to do the same. If you are reading a book instead, they may still crave the endless scroll, but the signal will be there. A small whisper that this behavior no longer holds the same weight. This school year is a chance for parents to help kids live through their own eyes, not through a screen.
Intermission (Phone Recommendations)
If your kid wants to embrace the full retro aesthetic or their school only allows non-browser phones, I recommend you chat with the guys at Koshercell (code:DUMBPHONE15) or Sunbeam Wireless. These companies specialize in selling devices with basic features and no smart apps.
Otherwise, the landscape of customizable smartphones for school use is already a saturated niche. Brands like Bark, Gabb, Pinwheel, Troomi, Wisephone, and others I probably haven’t even heard of2. Most of these companies operate on a subscription model (which, personally, I’m not a fan of), but to their credit, they’re actively improving their devices and refining the experience. If you're looking for a smartphone that balances safety, simplicity, and some flexibility, these are worth exploring.
Finally, you could give your child a Light Phone 2. It’s geared towards a more minimal experience with only a few tools available. Definitely not for everyone, but as their tagline puts it, “It’s meant to be used as little as possible.”
Embrace the Experiment
Stepping away from the dopamine drip of smartphones can be taxing. Back in 2019, when I first started using the Light Phone as my daily driver, the transition was bumpy. First, I would feel bored. Sometimes, I was restless. There were moments of genuine frustration when I couldn’t access the information I used to have at my fingertips. No podcasts, no music, no maps at that point time. Just calls, texts, and an alarm clock.
Each time I pulled it out, I’d laugh. Not because it was funny, but because it felt absurd. This school year will likely feel similar for many students navigating life without a smartphone or smart apps. There will be moments of awkwardness, boredom, and frustration. That’s okay. The first step of the journey is simply to notice those feelings. Try to acknowledge them without judgment. They’re not signs that something’s wrong. They’re signs that something’s changing.
Discomfort is part of every journey worth taking. If it weren’t, we’d all have summited Everest or free soloed El Capitan by now. Growth demands friction. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. It means you’ll have to find sources of offline dopamine. Luckily, our world is filled with them. This is your year to:
🌲 Hike a new trail, even if it’s just the one behind your neighborhood.
📚 Read a book cover to cover, maybe for the first time.
🎨 Make something with your hands: paint, bake, build, repair.
🧘♀️ Sit in silence for ten minutes a day, and finally get a hold of your thoughts.3
🗣️ Start a conversation with a stranger at the coffee shop, the farmer’s market, or the library. Maybe that stranger becomes a friend!
After you have done all or some of these things, you’ll realize that you don’t need a smartphone to feel alive. You need a life that’s worth living for.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-36256-4.pdf and https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-brain-and-value/202103/the-psychology-of-the-face-down-phone
If I had to pick one, I probably would go with Pinwheel. They have a larger selection of devices and you can use your own wireless plan. Technically, you can do that as well with Wisephone, but they only offer 1 device. If you want to do this all by yourself, check out this Apple guide or this Android service.
A song about the reality of what happens when we feel lost:
