‘Appstinence’ Group Helps Iowa Students Unplug From Smartphones

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: NICK BEECHER

On New Year’s Day, Jack Cantorna looked up directions to the airport, wrote them down on a piece of paper, and drove there without GPS.

Cantorna, a University of Iowa undergraduate studying economics and philosophy, is part of a growing movement to ditch smartphones. While driving without GPS has been a bit tricky—he did have to stop and ask for help from a friendly worker at a pizza shop—he says the inconvenience is worth it.

“One of the biggest differences between life with a smartphone and life with a flip phone is that there’s no general sense of anxiety. I’m just happier,” Cantorna says.

That feeling of freedom is what Cantorna hopes to share with other students through the UI chapter of Appstinence, a student club he launched this past spring. The Appstinence movement began at Harvard University, and the Iowa chapter is the first offshoot of the organization.

Appstinence at Iowa

The negative effects of technology on young people are well documented. Studies show technology addiction can affect a student’s ability to focus in school, sleep, and socialize.

“When I was walking home from the library, or just moving from place to place, I used to interrupt all these small moments with my phone, but I didn’t even realize I was doing it,” Cantorna says. “It was hijacking my attention, and I didn’t appreciate that.”

The first goal for Appstinence at Iowa was to get students thinking about the role technology plays in their lives. Cantorna wants students to ask themselves, “Is this technology adding to my life or detracting from it?”

The group’s digital management workshop offers actionable tools for students to take control of their technology such as using a browser extension that hides suggested videos while watching YouTube.

“Is this technology adding to my life or detracting from it?” —Jack Cantorna

Digital Detox

Part of the chapter’s mission is to encourage students to deeply consider the impact technology has on their lives during a 30-day period, a concept from the book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cam Newport.

During that month, students take a break from any technology they deem as optional while attending in-person Appstinence at Iowa events where phones stay tucked into backpacks.

“At the end of the 30 days, hopefully you found out which things in real life you like, then you consciously and intentionally bring back the technology that serves your values,” says Cantorna. “It’s different for everybody. The aim is to experience life without excess, without persuasive technology.”

Cantorna will graduate in December and hopes to have another digital minimalist take the lead for the Iowa chapter. Post graduation, he plans to commission as an officer in the Air Force.

While he doesn’t know exactly what the future holds, he does know that he won’t be scrolling Instagram on his lunch break.