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Life as a teen without social media isn't easy. These families are navigating adolescence offline

Associated Press

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Kate Bulkeley uses her phone to print textbook pages while Sutton packs art materials ahead of a ski vacation, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Gionna Durham, 13, reads a book on the sofa on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Sutton Bulkeley reads the novel 'Mockingjay' by Suzanne Collins in the living room, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Gionna Durham, 13, left, spends time in the kitchen as her sister Grace Durham, 11, right, draws on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Seventeen-year-old Gabriela Durham, studies inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Cell phones charge on a ledge between the living room and kitchen as Steph Bulkeley helps Kate select school courses, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
A trove of board games lay stacked in the Bulkeley living room, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Steph Bulkeley throws her daughter, Sutton, a bag of clothes while packing for a ski vacation, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing.(AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Grace Durham, 11, helps her mother, Elena Romero, not pictured, to put groceries in the refrigerator, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades.(AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Gabriela Durham, 17, right, plays a game with her sister Gionna Durham, 13, left, partly seen, at their apartment, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. More than ever, teenagers live in a seamless digital and non-digital world in ways that most adults dont recognize or understand, says Michael Rich, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard University. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Grace Durham, 11, checks her wardrobe inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Kate Bulkeley shows her sister, Sutton, a mask she made in school, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Gabriela Durham, 17, uses her phone to listen to music inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Gabriela Durham, 17, takes her shoes off inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Gabriela Durham, 17, arranges items on her dresser inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Sutton Bulkeley stretches in the living room, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Kate and Sutton Bulkeley talk in the living room, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Sutton Bulkeley packs art materials ahead of a ski vacation, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Kate Bulkeley, second from right, eats dinner with her family, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Ballet photos of Kate and Sutton Bulkeley are displayed on a mantle, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Gabriela Durham, 17, uses her phone to listen to music inside her room on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. Concerns about children and phone use are not new. But there is a growing realization among experts that the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the relationship kids have with social media. As youth coped with isolation and spent excessive time online, the pandemic effectively carved out a much larger space for social media in the lives of American children. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Elena Romero, second from left, and her daughters Gabriela Durham, 17, left, Gionna Durham, 13 second from right, and Grace Durham, 11, have dinner together on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. With the damaging consequences of social media increasingly well documented, many parents are trying to raise their children with restrictions or blanket bans. Teenagers themselves are aware that too much social media is bad for them, and some are initiating social media cleanses because of the toll it takes on mental health and grades. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Gionna Durham, 13 , left, holds her phone as she has dinner with her sister Gabriela Durham, 17 years old, unseen, on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. Concerns about children and phone use are not new. But there is a growing realization among experts that the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the relationship kids have with social media. As youth coped with isolation and spent excessive time online, the pandemic effectively carved out a much larger space for social media in the lives of American children. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
Kate and Sutton Bulkeley pack art materials ahead of a ski vacation, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. No longer just a distraction or a way to connect with friends, social media has matured into a physical space and a community that almost all U.S. teenagers belong to. Up to 95% of teenagers say they use social media, with more than one-third saying they are on it almost constantly, according to the Pew Research Center. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Grace Durham, 11, right, talks with her 17-year-old sister Gabriela, in a hallway of their apartment, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in New York. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing.(AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

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Kate Bulkeley uses her phone to print textbook pages while Sutton packs art materials ahead of a ski vacation, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in Westport, Conn. It is hard to be a teenager today without social media. For those trying to stay off social platforms at a time when most of their peers are immersed, the path can be challenging, isolating and at times liberating. It can also be life-changing. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)