Junior Sparks Movement to Put Down Phones, Go Outside and Reconnect
May 14, 2026
Adnan Alkhalili was lying in bed awake and doomscrolling on his phone during the wee hours one winter morning when an idea came to him.
“I just realized that this can’t be normal,” said Alkhalili, who is majoring in psychology with a minor in biochemistry at the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “Most Gen Z spend all of their time on their devices and then end up with medication – because we're all chronically sick – that we end up taking for the rest of our lives. We can’t assume that we have to live like this.”
From that realization, the Touch Grass Together movement, which encourages a digital disconnection in favor of a reconnection to the real world, took root.
Reposted from Rutgers Today