The classic game of “what would you bring to a deserted island” is about to get very real for a handful of UK residents. Six lucky applicants will win a trip to the beautiful Scottish Isle of Arran for the weekend of September 3-5. The catch? They’ll be cut off from the internet and all electronic devices, including their smart phones. If the very prospect of going off the grid suddenly makes this island getaway seem more like a punitive “time-out,” you may be a tech addict—and that’s exactly how these six winners self-identify.
Re-World Wide Web-hab
“Tech Detox” is an experiment engineered by the Scottish Youth Hostel Association. The participants will stay two nights at the highly rated Lochranza Youth Hostel sans tech for the entire weekend. Food and transport from the mainland are all included. Like any good rehab, their stint will include plenty of wholesome recreation, including hill walking, archery and abseiling (which I had to look up using what else—Google).
Inspiration for the event struck when SYHA chief executive Keith Legge watched a viral video called “Look Up,” which is clearly poised to be The Lorax of our time. While calling a brief tech moratorium “detox” is a stretch—last I checked no one ever went into DTs from Facebook withdrawal—there’s no doubt tech addiction can be a real problem. From obsessing over social media to getting hooked on apps and games, we as a culture are consumed by the digital. Increasingly, it’s an online world and we just live in it. In the UK, adults spend more than 41 hours per month on their smart phones alone.
Selecting the Most Desperate
Since applications opened up on the SYHA website last week, more than 50 people have already applied. With these numbers, Tech Detox is on pace to be more selective than an Ivy League university. There’s even a mini-essay required: applicants must write about the form their addiction takes and why. (Why? Because Candy Crush is basically crack, that’s why.) Their applications are analyzed by “experts,” and the six most desperately in need of rehab will be selected on August 4 and notified by email. What, not a Snapchat or even a text message?
It’s Like 10,000 Spoons When All You Need is…a Break from 10,000 Spoons
“It is ironic that probably the main way we will get people to know about this is through social media and online, but there you are,” Legge acknowledged. It really is—and not just in that Alanis Morrisette kind of way—but come on, how else is anyone supposed to communicate in this day and age?
Before and after their tech cleanse, the participants will take a survey to monitor changes in their mental state. There’s no word on whether they’ll receive t-shirts for their participation.
Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
