Next Gen is a structured 5-week small-group program designed to be run at schools to help students develop healthier, more intentional relationships with their smartphones. As schools face rising concerns around distraction, anxiety, sleep disruption, and emotional regulation, this program provides a non-punitive, research-informed solution that teaches students how attention and habits work and how to change them. Next Gen provides a structured habit-change system designed over five group sessions that teaches students: how phone habits form, why and how apps are designed to capture attention, how urges rise and fall, how to regulate emotions, how to replace compulsive use with healthier alternatives, and how to use technology intentionally long-term.
At the core of the program is a 30-day digital declutter experiment, where students temporarily remove high-distraction apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. The digital declutter works because it interrupts the automatic cycle of compulsive phone use and replaces it with real awareness. By temporarily removing high-distraction apps, students are able to experience what improved focus, clarity, and control actually feel like. This contrast creates a powerful shift—moving change from something they “should do” to something they genuinely want to maintain. It is not another lecture about screen time but an experience where students actually change their behavior in real time.
Students are not lacking motivation. They are lacking awareness, skills, and environmental structure. Unlike most current approaches—which focus on lectures for parents or general awareness talks, the Next Gen Digital Wellness program is built directly for students and centers on experience, not instruction. Students gain skills that extend far beyond the classroom and help shape how they focus, regulate, and live.
The program is run by a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in anxiety, ADHD, addiction, and mindfulness.