Holy Rosary improves mental health by pausing smartphones

In a move to combat digital addiction, delay smartphone ownership and improve the mental health of pupils, Holy Rosary School for Girls launched an unprecedented 80-day smartphone abstinence challenge.

The ‘80 Days: Phone Like It’s 1999’ initiative comes after the school’s successful ‘Phone-Free 40 days’ challenge.

The new initiative invited primary and high school learners, as well as staff members, to surrender their smartphones to the school.

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In exchange, the participants received sponsored feature phones.

Also known as “dumb phones”, the devices have limited functionality and are only for making and receiving calls and SMS text messages.

They cannot be used to access any form of social media, including WhatsApp.

Holy Rosary Primary School’s principal Natalie Meerholz, the driving force behind the SmartAge for Smartphone campaign and its initiatives, also gave up her smartphone.

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She said, “We are exceptionally proud of everyone who took part in our second challenge. Some of our girls have completed both challenges and been without their phones for 120 days which is really impressive, proving it’s possible to break free from the digital trap.

“We were excited that despite major fear of missing out and plenty of peer pressure, eight of our participants were in matric.”

Fifty-six learners between grades four and 12 and one staff member completed the 80-day initiative.

Meerholz explained that the extended 80-day timeframe was designed to reinforce the behavioural changes made during the first campaign.

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“When our 40-day challenge ended we knew we had to keep the momentum going or our learners would revert to old habits.

“It takes time for new routines to stick, furthermore, for a digital detox to make a significant and lasting impact on the brain, it needs to be for an extended length of time,” said Meerholz.

In the development of the challenge’s framework, the school took into consideration the need for communication between parents and learners.

As a participant, Meerholz testified that the impact of the challenge was profound.

Giving up her smartphone saw a change in her own usage, with personal communication boundaries now firmly in place.

“Navigating my own digital detox journey as an adult has proven challenging but I feel more focused, less distracted, and have tried out a range of new activities.”

With more free time new hobbies, such as crocheting gained popularity

This culminated into a crocheting charity event which attracted over 600 community members. R60 000 was raised from the collective fundraising activities during the campaign.

Holy Rosary School plans to contribute the funds to paediatric cardiac surgery, in line with their 2024 school theme of ‘Hearts of Fire’.

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Meerholz acknowledges that utilised thoughtfully and productively, smartphones can become an integral aspect of a contemporary teenager’s life by fostering beneficial social connections and providing exposure to global news and perspectives.

She advocates that parents delay the adoption of the smartphone at an early age and wait for the smart age.

“Our goal is for parents to feel no pressure to purchase phones – but this can only be achieved if the community stands together.”