As a guide at Discover Term, I get a front row seat to the transformation of young people during their time at a term. A huge part of that transformation comes from the fact that all of our students are completely unplugged and offline. No phones, no wifi, just time outdoors and weeks of endless adventure.
On the first day of our Summit & Service program, I gathered the group together with a familiar announcement: “Alright everyone, time to hand in your phones.”
I braced myself. I was ready for eye rolls, groans, and resistance. I expected the moment where faces drop because the lifeline to the digital world was about to disappear.
Instead, their faces fell for an entirely different reason.
When I called their names, a few of them looked up with disappointed expressions—not because I was taking their phones, but because they thought I was about to tell them to stop playing.
They were in the middle of a game, barefoot and laughing, completely absorbed in being together outdoors. When they realized I wasn’t ending the game, just collecting phones, something unexpected happened. They smiled. They shrugged. They happily handed over their devices and jumped right back into their game.
No drama. No protest. Just relief that the moment wouldn’t be interrupted.
That’s when it hit me: in more cases than not, teens are more than ready to unplug, they’re just waiting to be given the opportunity. Because the truth is, what people crave more than any screen is meaningful connection, movement, and purpose.
What Fills the Void
Without phones, mornings feel different. Our students wake up together to the excitement of a new day, not to alarms or buzzing screens. They sit across from one another instead of beside one another, conversations unfolding naturally and filling the void technology never could.
Laughing at a shallow video turns into laughter echoing across the water after catching an epic wave.
Hands that used to hold a phone now hold canoe paddles or bike handlebars.
Meaningless online discourse turns into conversations about the real world and real experiences in it.
Instead of instantly google searching answers to a question, students seek to find the answer themselves by asking peers or observing their surroundings.
When teens unplug, they come back to their true selves. They discover that the connection they were craving online actually only exists in the real world. Their childlike wonder returns as they start to see the world how it was always meant to be seen: not through a screen, but through their own eyes.
Removing the Safety Net
Phones offer a constant escape. A way to avoid boredom, discomfort, or uncertainty. When that escape disappears, teens are faced with something both challenging and powerful: the present moment.
What happens in the absence of a safety net is remarkable. Students learn to sit with discomfort until it turns into curiosity. They practice resolving conflict face-to-face. They discover that confidence isn’t built through likes, but through capability. They also truly connect with one another, forming friendships through shared challenges, late-night conversations, and memories to last a lifetime.
Many of them quickly forget they arrived with a phone in the first place. What takes its place is so much more meaningful that the screen becomes an afterthought.
More Than a Break from Screens
Screen time is easy to track, but what’s harder to quantify is the total transformation that occurs when young people replace screens with real, genuine experiences.
They come home more grounded, more confident in their voice, and more engaged in the real world. Because unplugging creates room for reflection. Teens begin to notice what excites them, what drains them, and what kind of people they want to be. It’s not about rejecting technology. It’s about remembering who your child is without it.
The Experiment Is Simple
For two few weeks this summer, let your teen:
- Step away from their phone
- Be challenged, supported, and deeply seen
- See the world through their own eyes, not through a screen
What they’ll gain can’t be downloaded, only lived. At Discover Term, we see it every day. Teens arriving tethered to screens and leaving more connected to themselves, to others, and to the world around them. Sometimes, all it takes is handing over a phone…and realizing there’s something even better waiting just beyond it.
