'Screen Free Teen' print magazine aims to tackle screen culture

A Maidenhead woman is on a mission to put together a Screen Free Teen Magazine for school pupils – hoping it will help young people ‘get away from online’.

Caroline Matthews is a magazine editor and is also in the midst of studying psychology. This, and motherhood, have turned her towards challenging the screen-heavy culture of today.

“I’ve got two young children, and I see the implications of the last 10 years and how it’s playing out in terms of children’s mental health and anxiety,” she said.

“I just think something needs to happen.

“There’s an analogue movement happening at the moment– a lot of noise about not just social media, but just screens in general.

“I think the young people are on board with it. I think everyone’s just had enough.

“As an adult, I feel it – I don’t want to look at a screen anymore. I just want the tangible reader experience, without any of the hyperlinks and [such].

“It’s the attention fragmentation I think we all need to break away from.”

Screen Free Teen Magazine offers young people somewhere else to look for entertainment, inspiration and work experience in the arts.

Produced in print form only, the free magazine aimed at 13–16-year-olds is hoped to be circulated around all the major Maidenhead secondary schools, and perhaps beyond, in time.

It is designed to inspire its young audience through relatable peer experiences, using content contributed by pupils writing columns, features and Q&As.

As such, the magazine will give teenagers a chance to take on a journalistic role, as well as fashion modelling and other contributions.

Caroline said the publication will be reminiscent of the teen magazines from the 90s, with a sports section celebrating young people’s achievements and perhaps a problem page.

“I’m going to try and make it quite retro – I think there’s a big appetite for that and it’s just a nice aesthetic – simple, how things used to be,” she said.

“The young people of today have no first-hand experience of it, but I think there’s a yearning for it.”

Screen Free Teen Magazine will ‘keep it light’ by being largely made up of lifestyle and entertainment, arts and culture – but there will be a health and wellbeing focus too.

Caroline hopes it will bring insight around the topic of digital disconnection, with contributions by teachers, parents and experts in youth health and psychology.

Content for the first issue is ‘coming together’ and the team are aiming to publish in May.

The plan is to fund the magazine through advertising sponsorship, while plan B is through community support, given the magazine’s ethos.

“I’m hoping that if this one does well, it’s going to be something people really get behind,” Caroline said.

She added that she’s spoken to most of the local senior schools and is hoping they will be on board, at least with making the magazine available at their schools.

Asked how she thinks teens – some of whom have been using screens for their entire lives – will respond to the magazine, Caroline said: “I think it’s going to be a period of re-adjustment, but I think it’s going to be well received.”

Caroline is in need of teen editorial contributors. Read more and contact her via screenfreeteen.com