Teen Who Wrote Book On Breaking Social Media Addiction ‘Wants To Be An Inspiration’ (Exclusive)

North Carolina teenager Keegan Lee, one of PEOPLE’s Girls Changing the World in 2024, encourages others to log out for their mental health

Education for discovery

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Keegan Lee was in the 10th grade when she realized she was addicted to social media, spending about six hours a day checking her phone, even while running. “It was all consuming,” says the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill sophomore. “I was on Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and I couldn’t miss a notification, I had trouble separating myself from my phone.”

Then he did the unthinkable: He put the phone down. “I quit smoking for a week and experienced so many beautiful things,” says Lee, 19, of Burlington, North Carolina and one of PEOPLE’s Girls Changing the World in 2024. “I developed this higher tolerance to boredom. once again I resisted the urge to connect.”

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Lee turned to the slower-paced world of reading books, writing letters, and connecting with people in real life, finding, he says, that “it’s a more lasting sense of fulfillment and abundance than any TikTok video can provide “.

It was so great that he decided to go offline for another 60 days, documenting his journey in a journal he shared with an Elon University psychologist, Bilal Ghandour, Ph.D., with whom he was co-author of a book about the experience, 60 Days of Disconnection: A Personal Insight into How Social Media Affects Mental Health.

In the years since, Lee has educated children and adults about the negatives (and positives) of social media as a youth board member for the nonprofit Mental Health America and director of wellness for the Disconnect Movement, speaking to middle and high school students to raise awareness. It has even created a course for parents and educators to teach children healthy habits.

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“While we can have meaningful relationships online, it’s the in-person, physical, tangible interactions with others that generate the most satisfaction,” says Lee, who still uses social media, but selectively and sparingly.

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“How can you describe the warmth of a hug from another human? How can you articulate a shared moment of vulnerable eye contact? How can you begin to communicate the essence of hearing the intonation in the voice of another one?” she continues “All of these elements are brought about by the beauty of face-to-face interactions. To not experience that because of digital dependency, is to not experience the sacredness of the human experience. I want to be an inspiration to others.”

William Lee

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Read the original article on People.