I didn't see the author expect a damned thing. He said he's personally seen the light and thinks that others would benefit from occasionally putting down the technology and having immersive real-world experiences.

Learn an instrument, make your own music; read a map, navigate for yourself; don't call people, talk to the people you're with; don't pay for shit, you've got enough of it already. Doing this one day a week sounds like an excellent idea to me, and if it sounds like a hardship to you, perhaps the author made a point.

It's an entry for a high school essay contest run by the site, with the prompt

"Tell our readers about a problem facing American society—and, more importantly, how you would fix it. The problem could be technological, cultural, political, or social in nature, or something else entirely. But we are especially interested in problems facing young Americans that older generations have misunderstood, missed, or maybe even created. In 2,000 words or fewer, please illuminate the problem and how your generation might break out of it."

So he wrote about how he was addicted to tech, and what he did to get un-addicted. It seems reasonable.

Its an entry to an essay contest. He probably didn't expect more than the judges and probably his mother to read it.

Okay, but it's posted here, so the GP's reaction is not unwarranted. If it was not meant to be seen by anyone other than those people then it shouldn't have been posted.

No but it's unnecessarily mean; especially considering it's written by a kid.

> to fortnight, of all things

What would be an acceptable thing to be addicted to, in your opinion?

endorphins from exercise perhaps?

Like axe-swinging?

That's the author's point: they still have a phone, they just found that their experience at this school has helped them break the addiction to it:

> I am now going into my junior year at Midland School. Whenever I am home, I find myself on my phone much less, and then only to catch up on my favorite TV shows and to talk to the numerous lifelong friends I have made at school. Midland helped me change how I live my life. I’m no longer dependent on a smartphone.

For one thing, the author is 17, so cut him some slack.

For another, going entirely without a smartphone for awhile is a completely alien concept to a large segment of the population. Expanding your horizons is rarely a bad thing.

Sharing an experience like this is a great thing.