Take A Break From Social Media, Devices During 'Offline October'

By Jamie Leary

LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4)- Two Colorado teens are being recognized for their efforts to spotlight the growing issues with teens and cell phones. On Wednesday, the two will come face to face with social media giants to explain why they think teens should take a break.

"The sponsors of the event are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and were kind of saying not to use them…" said Cason Kurowski.

Kurowski is a Senior at Littleton's Heritage High School. In 2017, several of his peers took their lives. Kurowski, alongside a handful of Classmates, started a campaign called "Offline October."

"We saw how it impacted everyone in the community and we wanted to do something to help," said Chloe Schilling.

Schilling is also a senior at Heritage. She will be joining Kurowski when they present Offline October to industry leaders next week.

"I think even they can see it's become an addiction for a lot of people so I think they could get on board," said Schilling.

Non-profit, #ICANHELP, is hosting the event at Google's campus in San Francisco. The award, #Digital4Good, recognizes students who are using digital platforms for good.

Kurowski and Schilling were nominated by there teacher, Mrs. Kristi  Brethauer.

"We had a horrible start to last school year and instead of letting that be what defined the school year they were like well how can we make it better," she said.

She is beyond impressed with the success of the student-led effort. In its first year, Offline October reached more than 2,000 students across three continents.

"I think because they were able to come together after a sad moment and turn it into how can we have better happy moments with each other that they just got to have this snowball going," said Brethauer.

LINK: Offline October

Jamie Leary joined the CBS4 team in 2015 and currently works as a reporter for CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. She couldn't imagine a better place to live and work and will stop at nothing to find the next great story. Jamie loves learning about and hearing from her fellow community members, so connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @JamieALeary.