Unplugged

It’s hard to imagine a time without smartphones. They’ve become an extension of our arms. Awkwardly standing in a Tim’s line? Phone. A few minutes before class? Phone. Need directions? Whip out the phone. For most of us, being instantly reachable isn’t just normal, it’s expected. But some have pushed back. 

I spoke with two professors and one former student about life off the digital grid to see if it’s truly feasible to ditch the phone altogether. 

“I never had one,” says math professor Kevin Vandermeulen, “until recently.” While most students rely on their smartphones to manage their schedules, listen to music, scroll through social media, or keep in touch with friends, Vandermeulen abstained for years. Before adopting new technology, he always asks, “Do I need it?” 

Phones, he argues, are not neutral. “They reshape our short-term and long-term attention spans,” he says, and to “remain a person of presence,” putting them away is the ideal option. 

When he finally decided to acquire a phone, it wasn’t for entertainment, but rather for practicality. Yet he remains careful. “I want to be intentional,” he says. 

His approach highlights a middle ground: being wary of the smartphone’s power but unwilling to give it up entirely. 

Philosophy professor Adam Barkman does not use a smartphone to this day.

When asked why, he smiles. “I had a cell phone before they became smart. I could use it when I needed it, uninterrupted. But when the smartphone came around, it became much easier to let time slip by.”

As a father of seven, a full-time professor, and a productive author, Barkman views distraction as both undesirable and avoidable. For him, getting a smartphone would take up his time with menial pursuits, and he “didn’t want to be pulled away by things of lesser importance.”

On whether his choice to go phone-free has ever hindered him, he highlights that he has been to 74 different countries, most of them without a phone. Most recently, he traveled to the wilds of Zimbabwe, traipsing through the bushvelds of Southern Africa the way God intended—completely distraction-free.

He’s seen the global cultural shift firsthand. Years ago, while living in Japan, he remembers seeing commuters reading books or newspapers. Now, you’re more likely to see people scrolling or listening to music. Barkman suspects that this type of behaviour can begin to “produce a society that values more instantaneous trivialities as opposed to more sustained or deep learning.”

Still, Barkman is no Luddite. “It can be used for good,” he admits. But he worries about its effect on discipline. “People, all of us in general, are lazy. You have to train yourself to be disciplined.” There are moral reasons on both sides, and to him, you have to be methodical in weighing the advantages and disadvantages. 

For now, he sees no personal reason to use a smartphone, but he acknowledges that he may be forced to get one in the future. It may grow hard to continuously resist in a rapidly changing, digitalized world. 

Barkman finishes by pointing to a sentiment from the good ol’ Buddha: Reduce your concerns in life as a way to be happy. For him, refusing a smartphone is one way of doing just that.

Alice Hewlett, a former student, tells a different story. 

She received her first smartphone in Grade 9, but over time developed a love-hate relationship with it. “My distaste for my phone began in 2023,” she says. “And then, I got rid of it.” 

She acquired a flip phone during her time at Redeemer. The original decision wasn’t casual. “What motivated me was a choice to focus on what was right in front of me, but most of all, this decision brought me closer to God,” she explains.

Her friends were surprised. “Some of them were shocked or impressed,” she recalls. “People would often say, ‘I should do that,’ or ‘that’s a good idea.’ It made me realize we all could use a break from our phones every once in a while.”

But the break came with its complications. “I was Redeemer’s IT headache for about a week,” Hewlett laughs. “I tried to convince them to make me two-factor authentication free. I got nowhere.” She recalls how, without a smartphone, group chats and other common smartphone features were inaccessible to her. 

Even so, Hewlett never felt completely cut off. “I was only isolated from the social media aspect of technology,” she says. “If something was really necessary, people could call over the landline phone in my dorm, write me a letter, or email me. I saw my friends every day—I never felt totally isolated.”

Eventually, practicality won out. “At some point, it just became very inconvenient,” she admits. “Even flip phones had their limits for a very busy time in my life.”

Now, back to a smartphone, Hewlett says she approaches it differently. Smartphones, to her, may have their uses, but they’re far from her ultimate source of fulfillment.

For Vandermeulen, Barkman, and Hewlett, the decision wasn’t about rejecting technology altogether—it was about being intentional. Barkman encourages students to carefully weigh the factors. For some, he agrees, using smartphones may be the prudent thing to do. But all individuals need to make that decision for themselves, carefully considering what their technology usage says about their priorities.