We must admit, cell phone usage is getting a very bad rap these days. Oh how I remember those heady early days when being able to order pizza on my way home from work on my little flip phone seemed a great luxury. But then phones got “smart” and I guess we didn’t as we got hooked on having the whole world at our fingertips via our devices. It was exciting - finding answers to pressing (and not so pressing) questions just by asking Google, connecting with old friends on Facebook, part of the new world called social media; being able to send a work email right from my phone. The convenience, the ease, the joy of connection.
So how did social media go from being terrific to toxic, especially for children? Just ask Jonathon Haidt, whose book The Anxious Generation has spent months at the top of the New York Times top 10 Best Seller list. Haidt maintains that the decline of play-based childhoods, and increasing smartphone use, has caused an uptick in mental health issues to children since the late 2000’s when smartphones became widely available. Cyberbullying, violence in school, anxiety and depression - arguably are either caused by, or exacerbated by, all that smartphone scrolling.
And let’s not kid ourselves, many of us adults (guilty as charged) have succumbed to the same addiction. Some are pushing back. This school year, millions of students around the country are faced with a new policy: no phones in school. They must lock their phones in magnetic pouches before the first period and don’t get them back until the final bell. The crackdown is partly because teachers were tired of students’ staring at their devices, but they were also having many other issues - bullying, fighting, a lot of drama which they blame on social media. And some school districts have noticed a positive change from the ban - less fighting, less vandalism, and the biggest bonus: kids are talking to each other again.
A recent article caught my eye - recruitment for Luddite clubs for “meaningful connections.” As a history major, I had a vague sense that I’d heard of Luddites before. A quick Google search revealed the Luddites were members of a 19th century movement of English textile workers who opposed the use of automated machinery believing their jobs would be replaced by machines. They often destroyed the machines in organized raids. Mill and factory owners took to shooting protesters and eventually the movement was suppressed by legal and military force, including executions.
Yikes - why would a group interested in meaningful connections want to adopt this name? It turns out the term has come to be used to refer to those opposed to new technologies. The current Luddites began as a group of high school students in New York who wanted to get away from their smartphones. They met up in person, painted, read actual books, used flip phones without internet, and complained that Tik Tok was dumbing down their generation. A 2022 article about them went viral (a little irony there) and the movement grew. While they still don’t use smartphones, they do use laptops, have a website and a plan to turn it into a registered nonprofit organization. Its mission statement says they are a “team of former screenagers connecting young people to the communities and knowledge to conquer big tech’s addictive agendas.”
Yet, some former Luddite members have admitted they’ve gone back to their smartphones. It’s just too hard to stay unconnected in the all encompassing digital world. They still say social media is not real life. And they want real life although many feel they’ve lost the ability to make real life connections.
Enter Knuckleball Comedy. Of course, we don’t have all the answers but we know at least one important thing: our programs foster connection, for both kids and adults. Our workshops get people away from their phones, and out of their comfort zone by participating in games, some silly games, some with more purpose and poignancy, and all with the goals of helping people become more connected with each other, which is as important in the workplace as in the schools. We’ve seen that this connectedness can lead to increased self confidence, resiliency, stress reduction, new friendships, all of which may help them limit their smartphone use and experience the “real life” those Luddites are looking for.
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