21 teenagers, 6 days, 5 mentors, 3 volunteers, 0 minutes of screen time. What did this year’s Logout Week look like? “Tell me it’s not time yet,” pleads a veteran of the Logout camp, eyes full of desperation. “It’s time,” the mentor says firmly, and without mercy, collects all phones, headphones, e-readers, and backup devices from the group of 21 teenagers on the train from Ljubljana to Maribor. The contents of the bag remain untouched from Monday to Saturday.

Absurd content on the internet is nothing new. The early days of internet culture were marked, among other things, by so-called shock sites—well known to any dedicated user of the “early” internet. Nowadays, however, it seems that children and teenagers are exposed to especially disturbing content with every click.

The third national conference on preventing digital addiction is behind us! Several guests and lecturers joined us in the Rog Center hall. The conference's main theme was finding balance in a world where digital technology is rapidly changing and developing, presenting us with new challenges all the time. Through the perspectives of top speakers, we wanted to highlight various protective factors that help us navigate the waves of technological change.

Apologies, rationalizations, and excuses that keep us in front of screens, and possible solutions

When we talk about excessive screen use or video game addiction, we often think of children and adolescents first. But counsellors at Logout often encounter adults who have difficulty controlling the time spent in front of a screen.

We hear and read in the media about the decline of literacy, lack of interest in reading, and the collapse of publishing. A dark scenario is unfolding before our eyes, where reading an entire book seems impossible due to diminished attention. We no longer flip through books; we listen to them more often or a convenient app condenses them into 15-minute summaries. Literature, however, has not disappeared yet. What does the term literature mean in the digital age?

As part of the Early Recognition and Action in the Case of Behavioral Addictions with a Focus on Risky Online Behavior project, which we are implementing together with Psychological Counseling Center Posvet, we conducted a survey in which we analyzed the current situation and needs of professionals in the field of non-chemical addictions.

Lately, we've been reading more and more about the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the news. Conversational programs like ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot are being used to assist in creating texts, articles, social media posts, and lately, even visual content such as images and videos.

As the end of the grading period approaches, children and teenagers in schools face a large volume of assessments, causing increased stress for both teenagers and parents. Additional learning difficulties arise when a teenager frequently procrastinates.

Most adults think of the holidays as a time for family gatherings filled with food, fun and good conversations. On the other hand, children and teens tend to think of the holidays in terms of freedom - no bedtimes, practices, school or homework and plenty of free time – and opportunities to have some more fun in front of screens. How to find a healthy balance between the two?

What is considered beautiful and attractive? What are the beauty trends among youth? What or who are they inspired by? Do trend-setters really look like shown on social media? Do they really have the perfect lives they portray online?

A gamer's journey may start in his or her room playing their favourite video game, but it takes much more than that to become successful player and to progress to the highest levels of competition. So what qualities make up the best competitive video game players?

Many of the most popular platforms - Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Google - are free to use. Yet these are some of the most profitable companies of our time. So how do they make profit?

Social media presents a special case of persuasive technology where psychological levers are poked and prodded again and again, often without our conscious awareness. Here are some of the most prominent examples.

NFT projects are on the rise and we come across many stories about quick success and high earnings. The thought of financial opportunity that can change life for the better is appealing to many and it’s often the reason why one enters the web3 or the metaverse and becomes part of a project or owner of an NFT in a from of NFT collection or 1/1 artwork.

To get the most out of their training, players need to learn to effectively balance the cycles of stress (training) and rest. 

"You’re so annoying!"
"No one in my class has limits on screen time, they can just use their phone whenever they want!"
"You’re the most annoying parents ever!"
"Get out of my room!"

The key to the balanced use of digital media is to create family rules about the use of technology - when, how much time, and what kind of content. Until now our website visitors have successfully created more than 180 family plans that help with keeping family e-rules. 

These are the lyrics of this year’s anthem of our Logout Week. Partly for fun and partly serious the word Love in the text stands for all the digital devices that our youngsters had to give away on the train ride from Ljubljana to Radeče. For as soon as the devices were given away, our 6-day camp full of adventures, meeting new people and logging off began.