In an average day, teens and adults alike spend an average of five hours on their phones or engaging in some type of digital media. That’s over 35 hours a week — not much less than the amount of time we normally sleep.
The way I see it, we are constantly looking at photos online instead of standing before them with our own eyes. Not many of us can escape this constant desire to live vicariously through our phones and social media accounts. But some, just a few, are able to experience life off the grid, and I was one of those lucky few.
My fall semester of my sophomore year did not begin in Dallas but in Switzerland, and one key component of the program was that it did not allow any technology. Going into it, I was very unsure of the “no technology” rule. I did not want to give up my phone and my connection to everything happening back home.
I felt as though I was going to miss out on everything: new trends, new songs, pictures, texting, and anything imaginable on social media.
I reluctantly gave up my phone and within a matter of days, my perspective had changed completely. I was no longer submerged in that small bright screen, but I was hiking and biking through the mountainside while learning so much about what was around me. I was not looking at photos, but I was in them and around them and hiking them.
My perspective on learning changed drastically, as well. I do believe that technology is a necessary tool, but learning without the distraction of social media profoundly changed my outlook. Looking back on the entire experience, I remember so much, so many thoughts, so many images and so many conversations because I was not preoccupied.
I learned how to communicate with friends talking to one another face to face about things happening before our eyes. This was not something I had ever really experienced. Maybe when I was very young, but not for the last six or seven years.
However, living off the grid did not mean that I was entirely disconnected. In fact I was more connected to current events and their effects than I had ever been. We read articles and opinions, especially of Europeans’ view of Americans, and went to town and witnessed how these events were affecting people instead of reading through thousands of comments online; once again I saw my perspective change, not only for myself but in those around me.
During the semester we were assigned an art history paper, and instead of Googling for more information about these pieces when we arrived back home, we sifted through books and our notes and printed pictures. Instead of having the answer at my reach in .02 seconds, I spent hours finding the right information. I developed a greater appreciation for what I was studying, and I understood beneath the facts, not just what pops up online.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Google and use it every day to find important and fun information. However, by doing a research paper without technology, I had opened up a new perspective about researching without an available, and what I once thought to be “essential,” tool.
I would love to once again step off the grid and experience a life without technology. I know it is very hard for anyone, even myself, to resist phones and social media, but even 30 minutes or an hour disconnected will change your perspective. Try it. Big or small doesn’t matter — it is the change you feel that you will remember.
Catherine Blizzard of Dallas is a junior at Ursuline Academy of Dallas and a Student Voices volunteer columnist. To respond to this column, send an email to voices@dallasnews.com.
