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Students in 'digital detox'

PLC students Rieley Stewart, Haley Dare, Hannah Chulung and Emily Kopke. Picture: Ben Crabtree/The West Australian

For most teenagers, reducing their access to social media is like cutting off their right arm.

But more than 200 students from Years 7 to 10 at Presbyterian Ladies' College chose to cut themselves off from the cyber world and talk to family and friends the old-fashioned way when they took part in a "digital detox" at the weekend.

Head of middle school Sharon Anderson said the 48-hour detox, which started on Friday, was an initiative from the Bully Zero Australia Foundation to help fight cyberbullying.

She threw the challenge out to girls and to teachers and was surprised that so many took the pledge to stop sending text messages and to stay away from social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Year 9 student Rieley Stewart, 13, said though it was difficult to resist the habit of checking social media sites, it had been refreshing to speak to friends in person without them being distracted by their phones.

"I wasn't stressed out about what other people were doing," Rieley, from Nedlands, said.

Hannah Chulung, 14, a Year 9 boarder from Kununurra, said the experience had made her think more about how often she would use social media.

Year 9 boarder Haley Dare, 13, from Dumbleyung, said she had kept busy with other activities.