In the classrooms and hallways of Tabor Academy on Monday, amid the usual chaos of students moving back and forth from class, there was one thing noticeably missing – cellphones. For one school day, Tabor students had the opportunity to give up their phones and disconnect in Tabor’s first “Unplug Day.”
While not all technological devices were off limits, cellphones provide the most common and more luring distraction for students at Tabor and elsewhere. While laptops and similar devices allowed students the ability to get work done and check assignments on the online student portal, the lack of phones took away the temptation to incessantly check social media and text friends.
Although the day was entirely optional, several hundred students participated in the Unplug Day. Participants received some perks for “unplugging,” including ice cream sandwiches and a special “phone sleeping bag” for their devices after they completed the day unplugged. The biggest perk, however, was the fact that for every phone turned in for the day, money would be donated to the Special Olympics, an organization with which Tabor has been working closely over the past couple of years.
The idea started with Senior Class Dean Chris Millette, who approached senior Marion Wollach, “Because my pizzazz is incomparable,” joked Wollach. Wollach’s Senior Project, which she will complete alongside other seniors who are completing projects in the remaining weeks of the school year, is to design a new student lounge at Tabor.
“One of the ideas that I’ve been toying with is that the student lounge will have a no tech policy,” Wollach said.
Students had various reasons for unplugging, but a common trend was seen between the participants. The most people who unplugged came from the freshman class, and each class above them had less and less participants. From Wollach’s perspective, the freshmen were more impressionable and more caring than the seniors; however, she noted that the fact that freshmen are more connected to their technology made this trend intriguing. For all those that did unplug, there was an overall positive reaction to putting away the phones.
“I had a bunch of people, mostly teachers, email me saying that they really enjoyed it, that they felt calmer and elated,” said Wollach.
The Unplug Day was inspired in part by the National Day of Unplugging, which took place March 3 and 4 of this year. The day was organized by Reboot, a creative Jewish company. The National Day of Unplugging ran from sunset to sunset on these days, and participants also received the phone sleeping bag for their participation.
While this Unplug Day was the first of its kind at Tabor, it will likely not be the last.
“I hope it happens every year, because I think that next year when we do it, there’ll be more people, and each year that we do it there’ll be more people because it’s something you expect, something that people might look forward to,” said Wollach.
By Jack Gordon