Delbarton Day of No Technology

On Thursday, 31 January 2019, Delbarton held its first “Day of No Technology”. Anticipation ran high.  So what does this mean? What are people’s reactions? Will the community actually comply with this proposal? After speaking to several students and faculty members, it appears that many people are not happy with this event and that it is a disruption in the school week. (For that matter, so is a Snow Day, but no one complains about those).

Teachers must create lessons that are not technology based. This is particularly challenging for all my teachers since technology has become the basis of not only our lessons but our assessments as well. Additionally, students are asked to leave their cell phones and laptops at home for the day. This “Day of No Technology” is supposed to not only be applied during school hours, but at home as well. That is why no homework can be technology based on Wednesday night.

So how have people reacted to this? Can the Delbarton community survive an entire day without technology? For the most part, the whole community will likely comply with the rules mandated for the day. However, I don’t think it is going to be easy for students not to have their quick fix of social media or online gaming throughout the school day and into the evening.

This a great opportunity for the Delbarton Community to take a step back and realize how overwhelmingly present technology is in our lives. As Mr. Currie asserted at Lauds, we check our laptops or phones for absolutely no reason, and that is startling. We as human beings are constantly drawn to check our technology and see what is happening at every given second of the day. Technology can become a barrier between ourselves and the real world and prevents us from fully appreciating others, nature, and the world around this.

I found this to be true when I did not have technology for two weeks on the BEADS Trip to Africa. Not having to check my phone or my laptop was almost a relief. After returning from the trip, I found myself checking my phone and laptop less and less, as it was not essential to my day or my overall happiness. That is why the “Day of No Tech” is a great opportunity for the students and Delbarton community to reflect on their constant use of technology, and how they can improve it in the future.

UPDATE! 

Overall, the Day of No Tech was a huge success. One thing that all of my teachers noticed was how engaged all of the students were with each other. In my ethics class, Dr. Hajduk mentioned, “how happy he was to see the library so loud and vibrant, since everyone was engaged in conversation and was not distracted by their phone or technology”. In my opinion, the Day of No Technology was a great opportunity to see how we all can be as a school on any given school day without the distraction of technology. Not seeing students constantly checking their phones or having their headphones in made me incredibly happy. I believe that technology prevents us from having genuine conversations or genuine interactions with people. Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed the Day of no Technology, and hope to see the Delbarton community, including myself, become more engaged with the world and its people.