BURLEY, Idaho — A local auto group in the Mini-Cassia region is putting its money where its mouth is with a new program aimed at reducing smartphone and social media usage among Burley High School students.
"There are governments trying to solve the problem, school districts trying to solve this problem; we thought we'd approach it in an entrepreneurial way to solve this problem," said Matt Cook, CEO of Goode Auto Group.
WATCH: Goode Motor's offering up $1000 to Burley Freshmen to give up social media for four years
With many young people spending most of their free time glued to their smartphones and social media, the Goode Motor Education Foundation in Burley decided to implement an innovative approach to motivate students to disconnect from distractions by launching an incentivized challenge called "Digital Detox."
"Our challenge is for all freshmen at Burley High School," said Matt Cook, CEO of Goode Auto Group. "If they give up their traditional smartphones and social media until their senior year, we will give them $1,000 on their first day of school as seniors."
This is the second consecutive year that the challenge is being offered, but it does not require an abrupt cut-off from technology.
In partnership with Gabb Phones, each participating student will receive a new phone designed to minimize the temptation of social media.
Burley sophomore Sophia Silvaz is one of over two dozen students who accepted the challenge last year.
"I have all these apps, and I've organized them alphabetically," said Silvaz. "I don't have many games, but I have some. I can FaceTime my friends who also have Gabb phones."
Operating similarly to any other Samsung device, the Gabb phone blocks access to distracting or unapproved apps.
"It only has the apps that my parents approved. For example, if I search for Instagram, it doesn't appear at all," said Sophia Silvaz, Burley sophomore.
While the challenge is currently only available to freshmen at Burley High School, Goode Auto-Group CEO Matt Cook sees potential for growth.
"We're trying to build this infrastructure so that others can participate," Cook said. "We certainly can't fund every school in Idaho or even in our area, but if others view this as a positive initiative, there are ways for it to expand, and we would love to be involved."
Although she is still a few years away from completing the challenge, Silvaz already knows how she plans to spend her $1,000.
"My friends and I want to go on a trip to Disneyland, so we're going to use the $1,000 for that," Silvaz said.
If you want to learn more about the Digital Detox Challenge, click here.
