Why some young Canadians are ditching their smartphones and what a unique brain study revealed

As more young Canadians rethink their relationship with smartphones and social media, one Calgary teenager has decided to find out what would happen if he gave his up altogether.

What began as a personal challenge for 17-year-old Jarrett Gross has evolved into a unique brain study examining how reducing screen time affects mental well-being and brain activity.

“I never felt good after it,” Gross said about spending hours scrolling social media. “I always felt like I wasted a lot of time and it was also hard to stop, which is, I think, generally not a good sign for anything that you don’t want to do, but you’re still doing.”

Last October, Gross swapped his smartphone for a flip phone, eliminating easy access to social media. After noticing improvements in his overall well-being, he wanted to know whether those changes could be measured scientifically.

Working with psychologist Dr. Blake Ausmus, Gross recruited several of his friends to take part in a case study. The participants replaced their smartphones with flip phones for two months, while Ausmus conducted brain scans before and after the trial, along with questionnaires measuring their mental health.

“The big thing that we found was in the measures for depression and stress levels as well as anxiety,” Ausmus said. “They dropped, like immediately. And then as soon as they got their cell phones back, they bounced right back.”

Brain scans revealed changes

“What we saw is a decrease of those alpha brain waves in the frontal lobe, which can be correlated with brain fog,” Ausmus said.

Although most participants eventually returned to their smartphones, Gross said the experience permanently changed many of their habits.

“Some of them would play games all the time during lunch. That’s what they did instead of talking to people. They just kind of stopped playing video games. So there was definitely a change even after on how they use their smartphones,” he said.

Gross, however, has remained committed to using a flip phone.

“It’s pretty good. I like it way better,” he said. “I think life is better on the flip phone.”

The changing attitudes toward smartphones are also showing up in the marketplace.

Shift in tone toward smartphones

Jerry Edeh, owner of Formidable Wireless, an e-commerce business specializing in refurbished phones, said flip phones were once purchased almost exclusively by seniors who found smartphones too complicated to use.

“Maybe five years prior, it used to be just seniors that are buying flip phones,” he said. “But right now we’re seeing that even the younger generation are buying flip phones.”

Edeh said parents are also increasingly buying flip phones for their children.

“I ask them, ‘Why are you buying a flip phone for your kid?’” he said. “They said, ‘Because I don’t want them using social media.’”

For Gross, stepping away from social media has made him more present in everyday life.

He hopes his experience encourages others to take a closer look at their own screen time and consider whether spending less time on their phones could improve their well-being.