On a recent Sunday, a group of teenagers gathered on the steps of a New York library for the weekly meeting of the Luddite Club, a high school group that promotes self-liberation from social media and technology. As the dozen teens headed to a park, they hid their iPhones — or, in the case of the most devoted members, their flip phones.
They made it to their usual spot, a mound of dirt away from the crowds in the park. Among them was Odille Zexter-Kaiser, a high school senior. “It’s a bit frowned upon if someone doesn’t show up,” Odille said. “We are here every Sunday, rain or shine, or even snow. We don’t keep in touch, so you have to introduce yourself.”
Some drew in notebooks. Others painted with watercolors. Eyes closed, one sat listening to the wind. Many read. They cite rakish writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac as heroes, and they like works that condemn technology, like Kurt Vonnegut’s “Player Piano.”
“When I got my flip phone, things changed instantly,” said Lola Shub, a high school senior. “I started using my brain. He made me observe myself as a person. I have also been trying to write a book. I have like 12 pages.
Founded in 2021, the club is named after Ned Ludd, the folkloric 18th-century English textile worker who reportedly smashed a power loom, inspiring others to take his name and riot against industrialization.
Logan Lane, 17, the founder of the club, said that his use of social media took a worrying turn during the pandemic lockdown.
“It completely consumed me,” he said. She deleted Instagram, but that wasn’t enough. “So I put my phone in a box,” she said.
For the first time, she experienced the life of a teenager without an iPhone. She read novels in the park. She admired graffiti when she rode the subway and she met teenagers who taught her how to spray paint at the freight train yard.
While Logan’s parents appreciated his metamorphosis, they insisted that he carry a flip phone so they could monitor it.
“I still long to not have a phone at all,” he said. “My parents are so addicted to them. My mom went on Twitter and I’ve seen how she does her claws. But I guess I like her too, because I feel a little superior to them.
Today, the club has about 25 members. After the Sunday meeting, the students headed down a lonely road with no lights. They discussed Lewis Carroll’s poetry, Ravel’s piano compositions, and the ills of TikTok.
A student pointed to the sky. “Look,” she said. “That’s a growing gibbous. That means the Moon will get bigger.”
Walking through the darkness, the only light that shone on their faces was that of the Moon.
By: ALEX VADUKUL
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6525432, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-01-10 19:40:07
#young #people #happily #left #social #networks #phones