Forced disconnection from the internet and social media proves why we have to stop the rot | Caleb Bond

A forced absence from his mobile phone, the internet and most importantly social media revealed a damning truth, Caleb Bond finds.

I recently did something extremely brave – I went without phone coverage for 24 hours.

Some would say it’s easier to give up cigarettes than the internet.

In fact, a 2012 Chicago University study found that people were more likely to give in to the urge to check social media or emails than the craving for a cigarette or a drink.

I was staying in the rainforest at Cape Tribulation in Far North Queensland and folks, I have to tell you, the lack of connection to the world was magnificent.

No one could call me or text me.

I wasn’t wasting time scrolling through endless dross on social media.

There was no expectation that I would get back to anyone within five minutes of them contacting me because heck, I didn’t even know they had contacted me.

It was just me, some good people, the rainforest, the beach, beers on said beach and food.

How bloody good.

A 2012 Chicago University study found that people were more likely to give in to the urge to check social media or emails than the craving for a cigarette or a drink. Picture: iStock

One travel companion did not feel so liberated, though.

She seemed to be experiencing genuine anxiety about her disconnection from the internet so we had to run her into town the next day to reach the wider world.

It’s bad enough that us adults can be so hooked on the constant connection of the web – so think of what it’s doing to children’s developing brains.

A survey by Health and Wellbeing Queensland found 90 per cent of Queenslanders aged 14-25 struggled in some way with their mental health and more than half reported feeling “tired for no reason” or that “everything was an effort”.

One of the main drivers – surprise, surprise – was found to be social media.

Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard said hospital presentations for self-harm in girls aged 10-14 had tripled in a decade.

A worldwide study, led by former Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry, last month declared that young people have more to worry about than ever before, in part because of the “harmful” influence of social media.

It found that mental disorders in Australians aged 16-24 jumped 50 per cent between 2007 and 2022.

You’d be horrified if your child used something as addictive as nicotine, yet there doesn’t seem to be as much concern about children having access to devices and websites that are designed to hook them through instant gratification.

Child and adolescent psychologist Clare Rowe says it’s not just social media but devices themselves that are hurting children.

“The dangerous impact of social media is twofold. It’s not only the content that young people are exposed to online but it’s also what they are not doing in the hours that they’re spending scrolling,” Ms Rowe says.

“Children, when I see their phone logs, it’s like five or six hours (per day).

“That’s hours each day they’re not socialising, getting outside or sleeping.”

The Queensland survey also found that loneliness, low self-esteem and poor sleep were contributors to the high rate of ill mental health among the young – all of which can, in part, be linked to devices and social media.

As I have written previously, we live in a world more connected than ever before. You can communicate with anyone, anywhere, at any time. And yet we are more isolated and lonely than we have ever been.

We have to stop the rot before it starts or we are staring down the barrel of dark times.

Originally published as Forced disconnection from the internet and social media proves why we have to stop the rot | Caleb Bond