In a 2024 survey of 1,000 Americans, the average screen time spent on their phones was 5 hours and 16 minutes. From Monday, April 20, to Friday, April 24, Archer hosted its first Airplane Mode week. It fostered connection through screen-free activities and helped students reflect on their online habits throughout the week, Director of Educational Technology Kristen Riggs, event organizer, said.
On the first day of the event, Meredith Ho (‘26) presented on how to use AI responsibly. She introduced how AI is a tool to be used in a certain way and that it is becoming a fundamental part of our lives.
“I think of AI as a tool,” Ho said, “It’s okay, it’s so prevalent in our age that we cannot completely ignore it, but we should use it as a tool to help our learning. And especially when we’re doing research, it just, helps speed up the process.”
Sienna Gray (‘29) said society has become too dependent on screens. Although AI is helpful, she said it distracts from life.
“I think that people are definitely too reliant on screens,” Gray said. “It’s become such a relevant part in society where a big form of communication is through screens and your phone and emailing or texting someone. And it’s also become such a big thing in the workplace and schools … We use our laptops for most of our information.”
Screens are part of people’s daily lives, whether they use them for entertainment, work or education. Riggs argued that all screens have set benefits, but social media, at times, can be a drawback, and students need to be careful about their mindset when they are online.
“The benefits are definitely connection and learning about new topics or new hobbies that you might not be exposed to,” Riggs said. “But especially for younger teenage brains, it’s harder to look at it objectively. And when you see … someone’s profile, it’s hard not to be like, ‘Wow, their life is perfect.’ And then you start comparing what you think your life should look like because that’s what we’re seeing on social media. Really, we’re seeing the curated 1% of someone’s actual life and actual day.”
Excessive time on screens can cause serious mental and physical issues, with some of them being eye strain, neck pain, back pain, increased anxiety and a decreased attention span, according to the National Library of Medicine. Some unhealthy screen habits include doomscrolling. which Ho said has affected her day-to-day life.
“Especially during senior year, it’s, ‘Oh yeah, the stress is not here anymore,’” Ho said, “the next day, I have a lot of boring classes. So I’m just, okay, I can go on my phone and scroll for another 30 minutes when I’m actually sacrificing my sleep and I know that’s going to affect how I act and behave the next day.”
Airplane Mode week came as a way to campaign for when to turn off screens and take a break, Riggs said. The week included both student- and faculty-led yoga, guided meditation and bonding activities. During the kickoff presentation, students gave advice on options to help limit screen time. Ho said a small way to reduce screen time is to find a screen-free alternative, like taking notes by hand instead of on a computer. Another suggestion from Ho was an app called Opal, which blocks certain apps at a set time. Riggs also suggested that taking silent walks is a great way to lower stress levels caused by screens.
“Technology can trigger my anxiety, I felt because it’s so overstimulating and there’s so much going on and it’s that constant gamification of notification, notification, emails coming in and everything,” Riggs said, “When I’m able to, on the weekends, just completely leave all technology behind and go outside, it’s the only time I feel like I can really quiet my brain and I can just think about one thing at a time because I’m not being bombarded with other thoughts.”
Airplane Mode Week was a way to show students how to manage their screens in an applicable and non-quixotic way, Riggs said. The week gave students tools on how to manage their time by using challenges like students submitting their screen time, both on Monday and on the last day of the week, to see who reduced their screen time the most. Riggs said a healthy relationship with screens is all about having a balance.
“Just finding a healthier balance between when you should or shouldn’t be on technology. I was really happy with the students who submitted for the challenge,” Riggs said. “I saw some of the highest numbers that I’ve seen is like 58% like reduction in a week. And that’s significant.”
