Phone ban helping young people get back to nature

A group that runs wild camps for young people has banned mobile phones because they are a "barrier" to enjoying the great outdoors.

Rewilding Youth, based at East Hull Community Farm, works with young people from disadvantaged urban areas and engages them with nature through activities such as foraging and fire-lighting.

Colin Phillips, an education worker with the group, said phones were too much of a distraction and "stripping them away" had been a “great success”.

"We do all sorts of outdoor activities and without that pull to their phone, you see better engagement, better reflection."

Not having a phone made "a massive difference" because "they are stimulated by the environment instead", Colin said.

"Within a few days on the wild camps, the young people were applying some of the skills they had learned," he added.

Eden Sedman, a youth researcher with the group, said young people were "spending huge amounts of time" with technology, rather than outside.

"They’ve found it to be a positive experience to spend time in nature, away from their phones," she said.

"The pressure of social media can be quite overwhelming at times and to have that time outside where you’re not stressing about presenting this perfect image is really therapeutic.”

Isabelle, 14, is among the young people who attended a summer camp at Aysgarth Falls in the Yorkshire Dales.

She said being without a smartphone "was a shock to the system at first", but people soon "started interacting more with each other".

"It can bring this connection to nature without the use of social media, as that can really bring a negative image to young people’s minds and their mental health,” she added.

Abbie, 12, said she had reduced her screen time after attending the camp.

“It was like nine hours' screen time a day and now it is down to six hours.

"I think there needs to be more places like this for young people, especially around here in Hull.”

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