‘Socially illiterate,’ Gen Z teens are attending phone-free parties to break free of their social media habits |
Gen Z, born approximately between 1997 and 2010, is referred to by some as “Generation Text.” They were the first group of teens, alongside some younger Millennials, to grow up with cell phones, social media, and texting already part of everyday life by the time they reached age 12. For older Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers, our teen years—even into our early twenties—were free of cell phones, texting, and social media.
Sure, no matter the generation, most teens and young adults experience some form of anxiety. But being tethered to a screen while the brain is still in its formative years has added an extra layer of stress for some members of Gen Z. The good news is that Gen Z is doing something about it.
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Putting phones away for the evening
According to The Washington Post, students at New York University have been ditching their phones for a little time off. On the paper’s Instagram post, they explain how it works:
“At the gate, guests slipped their phones into little cloth bags, putting them away for the evening. More than 200 students from New York University gathered at a table nearly as long as the city block. It was cold, but they leaned in to talk with strangers, laughing and trading stories.
Instead of the socializing that American college culture is known for, many students walk around campus looking down at their phones, scroll through elevator rides, and sit in classrooms glued to their laptops.
Many college leaders are concerned about the amount of time students spend on screens and social media, worried that it is increasing isolation, loneliness, and anxiety, shattering attention spans, and preventing social connections.
New York University is one of the places trying to change that, with a global effort that they’re calling NYU IRL — or NYU ‘in real life.’”
Slows down doomscrolling
These phone-free parties can be an excellent way to stop doomscrolling and perhaps even improve mental health. (Of course, people of all generations might benefit from putting their phones away for a bit.)
@usatoday There’s a growing phone-free movement among young people – but they’re not letting that stop them from having fun. USA TODAY youth mental health reporter Rachel Hale (@rachelhalereporting) went to a phone-free party in Brooklyn. A flyer for the party promised “a celebration of social life as it’s meant to be: free from the grip of greedy tech platforms.” It was nothing like she expected. But by the end of the night, she had talked to more strangers at this party than she had in the past month – and stayed there until nearly 2 a.m. 📸: Alyssa Goldberg/USA TODAY #phonefree #brooklyn #genz #parties ♬ Elegance – Projecttexass
There’s a growing phone-free movement among young people – but they’re not letting that stop them from having fun. USA TODAY youth mental health reporter Rachel Hale (@rachelhalereporting) went to a phone-free party in Brooklyn. A flyer for the party promised “a celebration of social life as it’s meant to be: free from the grip of greedy tech platforms.” It was nothing like she expected. But by the end of the night, she had talked to more strangers at this party than she had in the past month – and stayed there until nearly 2 a.m. 📸: Alyssa Goldberg/USA TODAY #phonefree #brooklyn #genz #parties ♬ Elegance – Projecttexass
Popular around the world
Eventbrite has been monitoring parties and events and reports that these IRL gatherings are becoming more common worldwide:
“Phone-free events grew 567% globally between 2024 and 2025, with attendance rising 121%, expanding from 5 to 12 countries. These events now span the full calendar year, signaling a shift from temporary reset to sustained behavior. The momentum is most pronounced in the U.S. and U.K., though each market reflects a distinct pattern of growth.”
In the United States, those gatherings are rising as well. Eventbrite reveals, “While event volume grew by 388%, attendance jumped by 913%, as creators transitioned to larger, communal experiences where average event sizes more than doubled.”
And it might look different depending on where you live. The research also suggests that, in Denver, a phone-free night could take place on a “packed dance floor.” But across the pond in England, the phones are still switched off, though the activity is much calmer: “Guests hand over their phones and settle into two uninterrupted hours with a book. With soft music, a glass of wine or herbal tea, and a simple grazing box, it’s a form of ‘soft socializing,’ where presence takes precedence over performance.”
Breathe in, breathe out
In a first-person piece for USA Today, Rachel Hale describes her experience at a phone-free party after locking her cell phone in a small pouch.
“Around 11 p.m., someone ushers me outside to the patio,” Hale explained. “A girl in Doc Martens, a white chiffon scarf, and a plaid coat guides us through a somatic ritual. We place our hands on our hearts. ‘This is the first piece of technology we ever owned,’ says Amalia Mayorga, the ritual organizer. ‘Breathe in, breathe out.’”
That seems to be the purpose: breathing, staying present, and taking just a little time off.
Hale also told CBS News that she believes there’s a “fear that there’s going to be a photo that’s going to end up of me online tomorrow. Or I can not dance as freely because it might be recorded. But it’s more than just that. It’s also that having this social barrier kind of lowered makes it easier for people to talk to strangers or approach friends they haven’t seen in awhile.”
While a bottle of bubbles might seem out of place in a hospital setting, you might be surprised to learn that, for thousands of children around the world born with cleft lip and palate, they can be a helpful tool in comprehensive cleft care. Lilia, who was born with cleft lip and palate in 2020, is one of the many patients who received this care.
As a toddler, Lilia underwent two surgeries to treat cleft lip and palate with Operation Smile’s surgical program in Puebla, Mexico. Because of Operation Smile’s comprehensive care, it wasn’t long before her personality transformed: Lilia went from a quiet and withdrawn toddler to an exuberant, curious explorer, babbling, expressing herself with a variety of sounds, and engaging with others like any child her age.
Lilia is now a healthy five-year-old, with the same cheerful attitude and boundless energy. Her progress is the result of care at every level, from surgery to speech therapy to ongoing support at home—but it’s also evidence that small, sustained interventions throughout it all can make a meaningful difference.
Cleft Conditions: A Global Problem
Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to more than 500,000 patients worldwide with the help of generous volunteers and donors. Cleft conditions are congenital conditions, meaning they are present at birth. With cleft lip and palate, the lip or the roof of the mouth do not form fully during fetal development. Cleft conditions put children at risk for malnutrition and poor weight gain, since their facial structure can make feeding challenging. But cleft conditions can have an enormous social impact as well: Common difficulties with speech can leave kids socially isolated and unable to meet the same developmental milestones as their peers.
Surgery is a vital step in treating cleft conditions, but it’s also just one part of a much larger solution. Organizations like Operation Smile emphasize the importance of multi-disciplinary teams that provide comprehensive, long-term care to patients across many years. This approach, which includes oral care, speech therapy, nutritional support, and psychosocial care, not only aids in physical recovery from surgery but also helps children develop the skills and confidence to eat easily, speak clearly, and engage in everyday life. This ensures that each patient receives the full range of support they need to thrive.
A Playful (and Powerful) Solution
Throughout a patient’s care, simple tools like bubbles can play a meaningful role from start to finish.
Immediately before surgery, children are often in a new and unfamiliar environment far from home, some of them experiencing a hospital setting for the first time. When care providers or loved ones blow bubbles, it’s a simple yet effective technique: Not only are the children soothed and distracted, the bubbles also help create a sense of joy and playfulness that eases their anxiety.
In speech therapy, bubbles can take on an even more important role. Blowing bubbles requires controlled airflow, as well as the ability to form a rounded “O” shape with the lips, which are skills that children with cleft conditions may struggle to develop. Practicing these skills with bubbles allows children to gently strengthen their facial muscles, improve breath control, and support the motor skills needed for speech development. Beyond that, blowing bubbles can help kids connect with their parents or providers in a way that’s playful, comforting, and accessible even for very young patients.
Finally, bubbles often follow patients with cleft conditions home in the “smile bags” that each patient receives when the surgical procedure is finished. Smile bags, which help continue speech therapy outside of the hospital setting, can contain language enrichment booklets, a mirror, oxygen tubing, and bubbles. While regular practice with motor skills can help with physical recovery, small acts of play help as well, giving kids space to simply enjoy themselves and join in on what peers are able to do.
Bubbles at Home and Beyond
Today, because of Operation Smile’s dedication to comprehensive cleft care, Lilia is now able to make friends and speak clearly, all things that could have been difficult or impossible before. Instead of a childhood defined by limitation, Lilia—and others around the world—can look forward to a childhood filled with joy, learning, discovery, friends, and new possibilities.
CTA: Lilia’s life was changed for the better with the care she received through Operation Smile. Find out how you can make an impact in other children’s lives by visiting operationsmile.org today.
Anxiety can be a funny thing. It loops through our frontal lobes, and if left unchecked, it doesn’t always willingly see itself out. Psychologists have long studied ways to help quell anxiety, and while potential solutions are certainly not one-size-fits-all, they’re worth exploring.
One such idea is called the “6:30 p.m. rule,” which, according to a recent piece on MSN, was popularized by journalist Mel Bradman, who was treated for chronic anxiety. The theory is that if we set a certain time each day to tell our minds, “no more worrying,” we can, in essence, “trick” our racing brains into slowing down.
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In an op-ed for The Guardian, Bradman described her anxiety and said she was intrigued when her Norwegian therapist suggested the technique during a session:
“I was stuck in a particularly vicious circle of over-thinking, (and) she said: ‘Tonight after 6.30pm is ‘No Worry Time.’ ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. ‘Exactly that. From 6.30pm until you wake up the next day, you’re not allowed to worry.’”
When she pushed back on how that might help her, she relayed the therapist’s words: “‘By giving your brain a rest, and allowing the other parts of you that aren’t driven by anxiety to come back in,’ she said. She told me that anxiety is a bully, and like all bullies, it needed to be put in its place.”
Bradman continued the practice and says it helped her reframe the idea of worry. “Last year, when I was travelling in Bangkok, I saw a sign in a bar that read ‘No worry zone.’ I loved it. It was a reminder that I could make my life a worry-free zone, and that you don’t have to be held hostage by anxiety – sometimes you can call the shots,” she wrote.
It’s 6:30 p.m. for a reason
The MSN article notes that choosing 6:30 p.m. isn’t random:
“The choice of 6:30 p.m. is not insignificant. After this time, the brain begins its recovery phase: the fatigue accumulated throughout the day often amplifies negative thoughts and rumination. Setting a limit allows you to interrupt this cycle before it takes over, offering genuine mental rest, much like a muscle after exercise. To give you an idea, one study estimates that........