Away for a Day is making schools smartphone-free to improve grades and mental health
We should value academics and mental health more than technology.

A classroom of kids staring at their phones.
We have reached a tipping point where people are beginning to realize that the great social experiment of giving smartphones to children and teens has been disastrous for their mental health. Since young people started using smartphones about 15 years ago, there have been tremendous spikes in anxiety, depression and self-harm.
Big tech companies, such as Meta, have claimed there is no causal evidence that smartphones and social media are responsible for the mental health crisis. But we know that the rise in mental health problems began when young people started using smartphones and studies show that when kids take a break from social media for over a week, their mental health improves.
“There's enough data out there to show that it's not just correlational anymore. Clearly, some of this is causal and we're at this breaking point,” Lisa Tabb from Away for the Day told Upworthy.
The Away for a Day (AFTD) movement is working to reverse that trend by giving parents and schools resources to remove smartphones from the classroom. Tabb is also a former TV news producer and the co-producer of “Screenagers,” the first feature documentary to explore the impact of screen technology on kids and offer parents and families proven solutions that work.
Smartphones in schools are a tremendous distraction, even if they are just in a student’s pocket or backpack. “If you give them a warm chocolate chip cookie in their pocket and say, don't eat it. It's just not fair. It's just not fair,” Tabb told Upworthy. “And science shows that kids are distracted not only by their own device but everybody else's devices, too.”
Studies show that test scores increase when smartphones are taken out of the classroom.
Smartphones expose students to dangerous, inappropriate content online and are associated with depression and anxiety. “We're worried about the very, the very big, scary stuff that can happen online, but we're more concerned about all the tiny microaggressions that happen throughout the day when kids are seeing their friends online that went to a party that they weren't invited to,” Tabb said.
Smartphones are bad for focus.via Away for the Day
That’s why AFTD is pushing for smartphones to be taken out of schools or, at least, out of students’ pockets and backpacks. “Phones don’t necessarily have to be left at home. It just has to be phones off their person,” Tabb told Upworthy.
“We believe having phones and smartwatches put away in lockers so the devices are physically away from the students is the best practice,” ATDE writes on its website. “If your students do not have lockers, we suggest that phones are put in places like hanging pocket holders, baskets, locked safes, or Yondr pouches. For those schools where this is not logistically possible, having students put their phones in their backpacks is the next best choice.”
Most schools confiscate students' phones if they are out at an inappropriate time and either the student or their parent must pick them up from the office after school. At Corte Madera High School in Portola Valley, California, students who violate the rule multiple times will have to check their phones in the office before the school day begins and pick them up after the final bell.
The phone-based world in which children and adolescents now grow up is profoundly hostile to human development, @JonHaidt writes. Here's how to save childhood: https://t.co/VSfmH7d9Cv
— Screenagers Movie Trilogy (@ScreenagerMovie) April 2, 2024
Creating a phone-free school day is a lot of work for students, teachers and administrators, but the benefits of having schools where mental health and academics are prioritized over technology are priceless.
“I have a great story about a middle school principal told me a few years ago,” Tabb told Upworthy. “The school had an electronic hall pass system and one year, 1800 students used the pass to visit the school counselor. This was when students were allowed to have their phones with them all school day. The following year, she instituted an away-all-day policy and the use of the hall pass to see the counselor literally went down to 10.”
Parents, students, teachers, and school administrators who want to implement phone-free policies in their schools can learn more and get free toolkits to get started Away for the Day’s website.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."
This article originally appeared in May.