If you have ever lived with Generation Z, you know that the answer to everything—from “what is the most penalty minutes in an NHL game” to “how to cook curry with turmeric”—is found in approximately 0.3 seconds with the help of their faithful digital companion. My kids, ages 18 and 25, have never known a world without instant answers, infinite scrolls, and the dopamine hit of the “Search” button.
But in our house, every week for 25 hours—from Friday evening to Saturday night—we go tech-free. No phones, no tablets, no streaming, no Googling, no “just checking something really quick.” It is our day of rest, reflection, and real human connection. And this fall, thanks to midweek holidays, we have been off-grid for three of the past four weeks—nearly 75 hours per week without tech. Yes, seventy-five hours.
Now, don’t get me wrong. We loved it. We ate meals together (without photographing them), played games (without needing to charge them), did puzzles (the kind made of cardboard, not pixels), and spent quality time talking. We even went to synagogue to pray and socialize with real, live people. It has been lovely, meaningful, even restorative.
But after week three, let’s just say the natives were getting restless.
On our final “unplugged holiday,” after the umpteenth puzzle, our slightly stir-crazy kids were playing a homemade game show kind of like “Name That Tune.” They have never heard of the original because it is not on Netflix. As the sing-off featured a collection of off-key renditions of songs that would make Simon Cowell wince, our 25-year-old decided to change the game to “Name That Quote.” She had rummaged through a bookshelf and stumbled upon a relic from another era: a thick, yellowed book of famous quotations (published in 1981) my husband had kept since college. She held it like an archaeologist who had just unearthed a lost civilization.
“There’s a book just for quotes?” she asked, genuinely bewildered.
“Like … people wrote down quotes in a book?” She could not imagine that people would not just Google them – after all, that would be so much quicker!
She started flipping through the pages and marveled that there were over 70 pages of quotes just from William Shakespeare. Then came the real shocker. My husband and I actually knew who said most of the lines she called out – thank you, liberal arts education and random trivia nights.
“How do you know that?” she asked, incredulous.
And there it was—the generational gap, perfectly summarized.
We grew up in an era when knowledge was not instantly accessible, so we remembered things. We learned from school, from books, from teachers. We carried facts around in our heads because we could not carry the internet in our pockets.
As we finally reach the end of our three-week digital detox marathon, we are all ready to return to our regularly scheduled programming—email, Spotify, memes, and yes, Google. But the experience of those 75 unplugged hours each week taught us that there is still something magical about learning without searching, remembering without swiping, and connecting without Wi-Fi.
So, to my dear Gen Z children (and maybe to the rest of us, too): Every once in a while, close the laptop, silence the phone, and pull a quote book off the shelf. You might just learn something the internet cannot teach you—like how to laugh, think, and be fully present, all at the same time.
Besides, who knows? You might even get to shout out, “Name that quote!”—and impress your kids when you actually know the answer.
Ilene Brookler, a Boca Pointe resident and Columbia Law School graduate, brings over 30 years of litigation experience to her role as a certified mediator. She founded Family First Divorce Mediation Services with the goal of helping families navigate divorce quickly and affordably. She can be reached at [email protected]. For more information, visit http://www.familyfirstmediate.com.
