06/06/2026
Go out and play!
I don’t think my parents were really prepared or knew how to deal with it beyond saying: “You’re spending too much time on your phone.” I honestly don’t remember what life was like without the internet. I got my first phone before I was ten years old. Back then, social media still felt like a golden age; it was mostly about connecting with friends and family.
But even then, I could see how much it was replacing parts of childhood. Instead of going to the apartment building next door and shouting up to your friends on the balcony to come outside and play, it became: “Let’s play billiards on Messenger.”
I really became aware of the negative side of technology during my Media Studies at university. In class, we learned how algorithms are designed to keep us online, and that made me much more critical of both technology and my own phone use. I realized it wasn’t just mindless scrolling; I was losing hours on a device that constantly flooded me with more information than I could actually process or remember.
That’s why I joined ctrl+alt+reclaim, a European youth movement that advocates for safer and healthier online spaces, stronger youth influence in EU tech policy, and technology that better serves young people and society.
I don’t live under the illusion that I can completely eliminate smartphones from my life. We live in a world that runs on technology. For me, it’s about taking back control over when and how I use it. I started setting stricter limits on my phone, like screen-time restrictions and even a tree on my home screen that grows the longer I stay off my phone.
And when you stop endlessly scrolling, you suddenly realize how much time you actually have. Time to finally read the book that’s been sitting on your nightstand, go outside and explore your neighborhood, meet up with friends, and spend more time in the real world.''
