Last week students in Year 9 and 10 at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury volunteered to take a break from technology, and gave up their smartphones for a week. Channel 4 came to the School to report as students took part in The Social Experiment, a research project run by Dr Lindsey Cameron and Dr Katie Goodbun at Kent’s School of Psychology. The aim of the project is to give young people an opportunity to learn about the extent to which their lives are shaped by social media and smartphones.
The school watched the verbatim play Generation FOMO, created by one of the School of Arts and Architecture’s Graduate Theatre Companies, Portrait Theatre. Written and co-directed by University of Kent Drama alumna Isabelle Defaut, the play was first performed in 2024 at the Aphra Theatre on campus. The play and social experiment are designed as a springboard for conversations between young people and their parents/carers and teachers, about smartphone use.
Eight volunteer students, plus the School’s Deputy Head, gave up their phones for a week, to experience firsthand how it feels to go without the digital world at their fingertips. They were given a basic Nokia phone, a Dictaphone and a journal, to record their thoughts, cheered on by their classmates. By signing up to the experiment, young people have a unique opportunity to gain new insights into their own phone use, share this with their peers, and it gives them a voice on the future of phones and young people.
What did they miss, and what did they not miss? Did it change their behaviour, their sleep, their concentration? Did it make it harder to stay in touch with friends? Did they feel they were missing out? How did they cope? Will it change their phone use going forward?
Dr Cameron, and the team from the School of Psychology; Dr Katie Goodbun, Gabby Oblea, Jamie Scott and Kirsty Kemp, are looking forward to gathering more data to answer these important questions in the coming months.
Dr Cameron said: ‘We encourage schools to celebrate these brave young people, who volunteered to take part in this social experiment, and to provide forums for them to share their experience with their peers, from start to finish, via school assemblies and other forums.
‘By disconnecting from social media, young people have a chance to reconnect with their family, nature, hobbies and interests, and their homework. Removing the distraction of social media helps young people maintain focus and concentration. This digital detox is hard, and completing the week is an achievement worth celebrating.’
Next for the project is a 12-school tour in Kent, joint funded by the University and Kent County Council, as well as a possible performance at the Houses of Parliament. Each of the involved schools will have an opportunity to watch the play and take part in the social experiment.
Dr Cameron added: ‘We hope young people who take part in this programme become relatable ambassadors for more conscious phone use in their schools.’
Portrait Theatre will be performing Generation Fomo for Kent headteachers on campus this summer.
See Channel 4’s coverage of The Social Experiment: Generation Reconnect (aired on Monday 24 March 2025) here.