Think of something that one has to rely on in everyday life and can’t live without it: technology. Technology is something that people depend on for our lives. I pursued eight days of no social media. Through tiresome days of absent use without my phone, I have dealt with what you, as a reader, are often too scared to do. I did not use my phone for an entire day. It was terrible. There was a longing for communication. For the updates. For the youtube filled nights. My experiences were filled with being bored, day in and day out. 

A reader may be asking what is making a person so addicted to their phone? There is only one solid answer. Dopamine. A chemical that, when unbalanced, can cause you to grow addicted to things. Dopamine is like sparkles for your brain cells. This chemical is why people eat junk foods, a cause of getting addicted to sugar, and it helps people learn about things in school and other interests. It can be an effect of moving.

While dopamine has good side effects it also has bad ones. Harmful addiction. Things people know are bad yet still do. This unbalances of the chemical cause a huge boost in the levels of dopamine. People feel a rush of happiness and excitement when having more dopamine along with a  sense of reward.

This makes people come back to phones every time they ding. The brain considers the extra amount of dopamine as pleasure and this can leads to addictions of the phone. 

Personally, I stay awake at night for hours on my phone watching Youtube. It is a problem I have. When I want to go to bed at nine, I end up going to bed at eleven from watching video after video. 

First, I gave myself rules to follow along this adventure:

       1. Communication is allowed since it is important to talk with parents and friends if they talk to you.

      2. Laptops at school are allowed because of school work.

      3. No Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, or Pinterest.

I went eight days without my phone. In the first 3 days, it was hard for me to find something to do with the extra time. School helped me not to be as bored. Though, I had the constant feeling that something was missing from myself. I felt empty, almost as if a part of me was gone. Contact with friends was difficult and I always thought I was missing out on something: FOMO. I was nervous that my friends were texting me and I was missing what they were saying. It was strenuous for me.

My last day of the week went like this:

6 AM wake up time~

6:45 AM go out for the school bus

7:23 AMM start school

2:15  PM go to the library with my friend Samhita to hang out and return books

5 PM Hip hop class with my mom

6- 9 PM hang out with siblings 

Honestly, my experience was pretty bad and I was bored the entire time. 

I asked my family and friends and they responded to this scenario and commenting on how taking a break away from their phone was.

Ben Bordogna grade 7,  said, “My first day or two was really hard to be without my phone. Although as time went on, I got used to it and really didn’t care anymore.”

Karen Shamir grade 10, said, “Kinda nice because I got a break from all the drama, lol.”

An anonymous person said “Honestly it wasn’t so bad. Not having social media really helps. It took me about a day to get used to it.” 

I then asked these people if they feel like they have gotten more attached to their phones because of social media over the years.

The anonymous person continued to say  “ Definitely. Still no social media but a bit more attached.”

Karen Shamir continued to say, “I do think I am on my phone more when I have people to talk to”

Ben Bordogna also said, “Yeah I definitely would not be able to live without my computer and Xbox”

Corina Bordogna, age 6, said “I like to watch my tablet” 

The end of eight days, for no technology, has come and it helped me to understand what being on the outside of the internet was like. I got better at face to face communication. I believe that all of us should take a break from technology for at least one day, if not more. 

Although I will be honest, I am going to go back to technology and will not be able to break away from it for a while, since I am addicted.