"No Phone? No Way!" The Double Edge Sword of phones on DofE expeditions

‘I can’t survive without it!’, ‘I’ll lose my streak!’, ‘What if my mum needs me?’, ‘I’ll only use it for photos. I promise.’

As an instructor on DofE expeditions, the quotes above are only a few of those I hear regularly when it comes to the topic of phones on expeditions. However even more sobering are the stats:

· According to Ofcom (2025), 99% of children will own a mobile phone by age 11 and 98% of 16-24 year olds will own a smartphone.

· Teenagers average 3-6 hours of screen time each day with 12-15 year olds having a focus on social sites, primarily TikTok and Snapchat (House of Commons Library, 2024).

· According to the same source, around 25% of these behaviours show key indicators of addiction.

Challenges for young people

The data above will not come as a surprise to anyone reading this. We all know how the social platforms are designed to keep the attention of users and encourage them to seek their next ‘hit’ of endorphins. The platforms are addictive because they are designed to be.

So, as a provider for the expedition section of the DofE awards, when we are asking young people to take themselves away from their phones and ‘forget about them’ for a few days, it’s easy to understand the difficulties they encounter. Note: I was going to use the word ‘empathy’ in place of ‘understand’ in the last sentence. However, I changed my mind as I don’t believe that personally, I can empathise with this.

Benefits and barriers of technology

Over the years, I have worked with many school groups who ‘allow’ participants to have their phones on expeditions. Often, the policies set by the schools’ over-ride our own preferences with reasons such as:

• Safety concerns
• Being easily contactable

The DofE have their own guidance on the use (or even presence) of phones on expeditions and this is not optional. Some of their guidance around phones outlines:

• To avoid undermining the development of self-reliance and self-confidence that the expedition strives to foster in individuals. 
• In most cases, the phones are not an ‘issue’ during the day. It’s the overnight camp where the problems are seen, with a lack of engagement with one another and the landscape they are in. 
• A clear aim of the DofE award scheme is to foster an appreciation of human interaction and the environment. 

Managing phones on expedition

Balancing human interaction and engaging with the environment with the safety and contact method that phones provide can prove challenging. So, what can be done to support this? 

I don’t claim to have a complete answer or one size fits all approach. There are many approaches, but to me it seems that the simplest is to make using the phone less attractive than not. Easier said than done! By the time we get to the evening camp on an expedition, everyone is tired and staff are managing a large cohort within the confines of a campsite. On a Bronze expedition, a single night can be put to good use with planned games or working towards their team goal. Asking this from a Silver or Gold group is a different thing, when more focused discussion or distraction may be required.

Replacing phones with adventure and connection 

I think the answer lies somewhere in the approach made at the very start of the expedition. 

Showing an understanding of their concerns at losing a streak or not checking in at home will be of benefit rather than dismissing their feelings. Instead of the draconian approach of putting phones in sealed bags in their rucksacks and not touching them until the end of the expedition and saying no more about it, expecting groups to entertain themselves in camp, could there be some kind of ‘suggested evening activity’ presented to them? What would that be? Would groups like it? I don’t know.

What I do know is that when participants are engaged with alternative activity, their reliance on technology filling this space will greatly reduce. Surely, simple encouragement to try out an alternative will give the participants a more beneficial experience.

What are your thoughts and suggestions to approaching the balancing of technology on DofE expedition? Share your comments or get in touch.