St Joe unplugs and enjoys face time, not “FaceTime”

Students%2C+including+senior+Maria+Haro%2C+enjoy+time+interacting+with+friends+and+off+their+phones+during+Unplugged+Day.++Photo+by%3A+Greta+Sea

Students, including senior Maria Haro, enjoy time interacting with friends and off their phones during Unplugged Day. Photo by: Greta Sea

Greta Seal

On Tuesday, October 23, St. Joe participated in an “Unplugged Day.” The idea was to remove unnecessary forms of technology from students during the school day in order to encourage girls to interact with one another. At the beginning of the day, all phones were turned in to a teacher, the office, or stowed away in cars and lockers. Many students were annoyed at first, but ultimately, they appreciated the opportunity to talk to their friends instead of staring at a screen.  

Senior Sydney Ernst commented, “I really liked Unplugged Day because it allowed me to actually talk to my friends…at lunch, we were able to have an actual conversation instead of staring at our individual screens.”

During free periods, a surprising amount of homework was completed, now that the main distraction was gone. A recent study done by the Child Mind Institute noted that “.most apps and web content are engineered to be as user-friendly and addictive as possible. They ping us with notifications when we get a new message or when someone has posted something we might be interested in.”

The study also tested students’ overall ability to concentrate. Students who placed their phones in other rooms while doing their homework did better on cognitive tests than students who left their phones face down and silenced on their desks. So, the mere presence of phones, even silenced phones, cause subconscious distractions and trouble focusing. As a result,  the lack of phones throughout St. Joe allowed students a rare moment to focus solely on homework during their free periods.

Senior  Annie Thompson admitted she had forgotten about the no-device day  until she arrived at school that day.

“But I was happy because it gave me the opportunity to spend a day without the distraction of my phone,” Thompson said.

Many students agreed that they don’t realize how addicted they really are to their phones until they are taken away, and then they realize how nice it is to be unplugged.

“I really enjoyed Unplug Day because I got to talk face to face with my friends without anyone looking at their phone,” sophomore Lana Gerard said.