"My technology-free day was a nightmare," exclaims one student at
the very beginning of her final presentation on technology, nature, and
her inner experiences of both. This exclamation has amused me so much
that I have repeated it often through the day when describing this
project to other students and colleagues at Saint Francis University, a
small university tucked into the hills of the Allegheny mountains in
central Pennsylvania.
As
part of the curriculum in my Environmental Sociology class, students
are asked to journal on two different but related kinds of experiences:
two technology-free days and 6 times in nature, in solitude without cell
phones or iPods. Their reactions to these types of experiences are both
startlingly profound and surprisingly life changing, but in actuality,
life-enhancing. In this article, I will relate their experiences with
technology-free days.
For this assignment, I have given them some
instruction, but I have left it up to them how they want to define a
technology-free "day." Knowing how addicted most of my undergraduate
students are to their cell phones, laptops with Face book, and iPods, I
am loathe to tell them how long they should go without such supports.
Some students really stretch themselves and define a day as an actually
day- from sun-up until after dinner. Others can only go so far as to
define one hour as their 'day.' I ask them to consider the following
questions and write about them in their journals.
How does it feel
to spend a day without technology? What effect does it have on your
mood? Your mind? Your emotions? What differences do you notice between a
technology day & a technology-free day? Similarities? What are some
things you like about a technology-free day & why? What did you not
like and why? How has being technology-free affected your social
interactions? Explain. Please describe any other observations.
In
our culture, most of us have become dependent on communication
technology in some form or another. And most of us have become dependent
on that technology without being aware of how much we rely on it. For
example, we text friends, we blog and we 'Facebook' (and create a new
verb in the process). With college students, I am amazed, and secretly
touched, by how often they call their parents. Many students claimed to
call their parents every single day. Others said they called their
parents, usually their mom, between each & every class. Some
students complained about missing meetings or practices without
technology (apparently, their schedule changes each day & this is
how they are informed).
On the other hand, I am also dismayed by
how much computer interaction has replaced face-to-face interaction with
college-age students who live right down the hall from each. They
report to me that they might IM their friend, rather than simply walk
down the hall to say hi.
I have used this assignment for hundreds
of students over several years in dozens of classes. I am always amazed
by the insightful awareness this simple exercise brings to them about
their social interaction and their lifestyle. The following are a SELECT
FEW of their personal reactions:
Being Present: "In a day without
technology, you are completely concentrated on what you are doing &
who you are with. You have no distractions to take you away from that
place. My mind was into what I was doing."
Becoming more social:
"This activity made me more social because in order to see what time to
go to dinner and the time I had to go up to people and ask them instead
of texting them or instant message. I also notice(d) how beautiful this
campus really is."
"Technology-free days (have) improved my social
interactions. I engage in more conversations with my friends &
girls in my dorm than just sitting in the room talking on instant
message and through texting. Talking face to face with people is more
personal than just sending IMs and texts."
Waste of Time:
"Ultimately, it wastes my time. The thought crossed my mind, 'What do I
really get accomplished with using technology?'"
Addiction to
technology: (During a 7.5 hour bus ride to her basketball match, without
technology,) "I didn't think I was going to make it. When we stopped at
our first rest stop, I was tempted to ask the bus driver to open the
bottom of the bus, but instead my teammate encouraged me and I decided
not to. When we got to the hotel, I immediately reached in my book bag
for my phone because I really wanted to see my missed calls, text
messages, and voicemails. I felt like a drug addict. I realized how
obsessed I was with my cell phone." "(Without my phone), I did not know
what to do with myself. I felt like I was going crazy. It definitely
mixed my emotions up and had me feeling sad at some points, but then
again happy because I accomplished not using my devices on the bus."
Spending
time with family: One student extended the Tech-free day to her family:
"As I was sitting in the living room yesterday, the phone rang. I
glanced up and looked at our television. Our caller id comes up in every
TV in the house. Just as I looked back down at my laptop, my sister
instant-messaged me and asked who was calling. It was that moment that I
realized how severely dependent ly family is on modern technology.
Later that night, I told my mother the story. She knows that my sister
& I live in separate rooms and just message each other if we need
something. So I asked her if for one night, the four of us could do
something as a group. She thought this was a great idea!"
They
went on to play 2 games of SORRY and 1 game of SCATTERGORIES. "To our
surprise, we had fun.....Who knows! Maybe this will become our new
tradition!"
Start a new tradition in your household! Go tech-free for a day, relieve stress, and maybe have some fun!
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