Del Oro softball players' 30‑day digital detox draws local interest after SPECT brain‑scan results

A community‑led mental‑health project at Del Oro High School drew standing‑room attendance at Loomis Town Hall on April 8 after organizers described a 30‑day social‑media and smartphone abstention by the varsity softball team and presented preliminary brain‑scan results from one volunteer.

Jennifer Christiansen, who described herself as a Del Oro graduate and parent, told the council she organized the Look Up campaign to combine a mental‑health awareness effort with fundraising to install field lights. ‘‘All 27 softball players, so that's 100% gave up their smartphones and all social media use for 30 days,’’ she said, and the program provided flip phones and limited service to allow basic voice and emergency contact.

Why it matters: Christiansen framed the project as a response to rising mental‑health concerns among teenagers. She cited county and national statistics and reported changes in behavior, family interactions and school‑relevant measures after the detox. She also said the campaign raised nearly $29,000 at a ticketed event and received an additional $20,000 matching pledge from a local donor.

Evidence presented: Christiansen said one player volunteered for pre‑ and post‑SPECT (single‑photon emission computed tomography) brain scans through a collaboration with the Amen Clinics. She presented SPECT images and cognitive testing showing higher activity in cognition‑related brain regions for that volunteer after the abstention period and reported that team‑wide surveys showed improvements in reported sleep, family time and focus for many participants. She summarized parents’ and players’ impressions, including reports that many participants ‘‘started to forget about their phones entirely’’ in the last two weeks of the detox.

Responses and follow‑up: Council members and members of the public praised the project and asked about safety and next steps. Christiansen said she plans to present findings to Loomis Union School District and Placer Unified School District and encouraged parental controls and age‑appropriate limits: she recommended no smartphones for K–8 and delayed social‑media access until later in high school if possible. No town action or formal policy change was proposed at the April 8 meeting.

Limitations: Organizers described the SPECT results as preliminary and said clinicians recommended follow‑up scans at three to six months to see whether changes persist; broader study design, sample size and long‑term outcomes were not presented and would require further research. Christiansen told the council the Amen Clinics and other clinicians helped arrange testing but emphasized more work is needed to draw definitive clinical conclusions.

Looking ahead: Organizers said they will continue outreach and repeat portions of the campaign, and Christiansen said other teams and athletics programs have expressed interest in similar detox efforts.