What happens when a school full of teenagers decides to pack up the cellphones for the day? It's a challenge that a teacher at St Paul High school in Ottawa proposed.  Grade 9 and 10 English teacher Eve Warkentin called it "phone free Friday". She got the idea after watching a YouTube video by Gary Turk called “Look Up” about the on-line generation's addiction to technology.

"So when you're in public and you start to feel alone,” Turk says in his video,”put your hands behind your back and step away from the phone.”

More than 37 million viewers have seen the video so far.  Warkentin showed it to her students, and then challenged her three classes to give up their cellphones just for one day at school. So, at 8 a.m. this morning, they filed in, one by one, handing over their cellphones before heading off to class.

"I just wanted to give them a chance to see what life is like without being attached to this device they're so dependent on,” says Warkentin, as she collected dozens of phones.  

Her students got on board right away; in fact, so did the whole school, including the administrative staff right up to the principal.

"I was in right away,” says St. Paul principal Geoff Edwards, “Even though I probably use my phone more than anybody for work. I’m most likely to bump into somebody in the hallway because I’m checking an email.”

For some, parting was such sweet sorrow. Grade 10 student Grace Charland kissed her phone before she handed it over to her teacher.

"You use it so subconsciously,” says Charland, “that you don't even notice. It's tough giving it away.”

"I have to be honest; we're all addicted to our phones,” says student Lindsey Smith, “it's really hard to put it away cold turkey. It's really weird for us to experience.”

One student took it a step further and has given up social media for the past two weeks.

“Everyone is so addicted to social media these days,” says Sarah Eygenstein, who is in Grade 9, “I walk through halls and everyone on their phones and I’m like why don't they talk to the people next to them.”

But at lunch time today, they did just that; talked to their friends instead of texting them.

"This is good, feels good just talking to people,” says Grade 10 student Liam Lahey, as he sits with friends outside his locker.

In Eve Warkentin’s English class, they were focused on their work instead of their phones. After six whole hours, they got them back and, of course, immediately checked for messages.

"It was actually pretty challenging,” says Grade 9 student John Warde, “but I just did more work than I usually would in class so I was more productive.”

It proved to be an interesting experiment with some interesting results.

"In class I felt I was more focused,” says Grade 9 student Ashley Odongo, “and paying more attention to what was happening.”

Probably the most interest result is that the students are already asking about the next “phone free Friday.”