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Consider a Social Media Detox

By Krystine Breton, Grade 11
Being students here at Stanstead College, I think we can all agree that we get a lot of homework. I’ve been here since Grade 7, and if you’re anything like me, you start every year off telling yourself that you will be more productive than last year and that you’re putting an end to your tendency to procrastinate.
 
But then a week later you’re back to being a full-time procrastinator. Because of this, I constantly feel rushed because I don’t feel like I have enough time to do all my homework. And I’ve heard the TikToks, the motivational quotes and the prefect speeches that tell you why you need to stop procrastinating, but it never impacts me enough to actually stick with me.
 
The other week, I started writing an essay about the impact of social media for my CW class. As I was doing some research, I came across an article about a man named Jason Zook. He decided to challenge himself to a month of detox from social media. So every day, for 30 days straight, he wrote a journal about how he was feeling as well as all the things he managed to do now that he wasn’t spending as much time on his phone. The results were amazing!
 
He found himself feeling like he had more time and that he had more control over the way he spent his time. He started feeling noticeably happier by being less stressed and feeling less strained. He was considerably more focused, more motivated and his thoughts became much more clear in his mind. He was able to accomplish more than twice the amount of tasks that he usually did. Overall, he described the whole journey as, “A break from having our lives judged and criticized upon.”
 
It made me reflect on the fact that although we don’t notice it, social media has much more of an impact on our lives than we realize. And this impact is much more negative than it is positive. Social media was first created with the intention of bringing people together and spreading happiness throughout the world. It has now become something that we need to get away from in order to improve our mental health and our quality of life.
 
After reading this article, even the thought of taking a break from social media made me feel happier. I came back to my room that day and I was so persuaded by what I had just read that I came close to deleting social media from my phone right then and there.
 
Undeniably, social media is how our generation has come to communicate and express itself, but at the same time it’s become toxic for all of us. Personally, it keeps me from completing my homework before 1:30 am, it keeps me from studying a little extra for tests that I know I need to study for and it sometimes even keeps me from enjoying the full Stanstead experience. Mainly because the time spent on social media is time not spent having face-to-face conversations with people and making memories.
 
From November 10 to December 10, which is exactly 30 days, I will be challenging myself to a social media cleanse. This means that for a 30 whole days, I will not log into any social media at all. This may sound impossible to some of you, and to be honest it kind of feels strange to me too but I’m hoping to benefit academically, socially and mentally from this experience, just as Jason Zook did.
 
If this has spoken to you, I hope that you will feel inspired to take on this challenge for yourselves. Even if it’s just for a day, or two, or a week. Because we all need a break.
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