San Francisco School Asks Students To Give Up Tech For 3 Days
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Could your teenager make it three days without their cellphone? A San Francisco school is asking students to unplug for the next few days.
The Convent and Stuart Hall Schools are an elegant campus known for spectacular views and first class technology, where even the ornate drawing room is tech infused.
But not today, this school is going retro.
"Usually we'd be on our iPads, or computers doing work on our Google docs or whatever," student Fiona Mittelstaedt told KPIX 5.
For three days, there will be no computers, no iPads, and seriously no cellphones.
"Since we don't have any electronics, we're playing cards, reading books - occupying ourselves in different ways," Mittelstaedt said.
For starters, that means getting academic the old-fashioned way.
"As you can see, like five different books," student Star Hooper said.
And to find those books, they can't use a computer, which means using the old library catalog.
"I think we were the class to be taught how to do it. I think we were the last class to be taught cursive too," Mittelstaedt.
And for anyone older than, say 35, you'll be happy to know these students fully understand just how hard you had it.
"My mom always tells me how when she used to do research papers she had to go all over the city to find research," said student Grace Apple.
But this "conscious disconnection" isn't just an exercise in academics. Technology has also changed us.
"I've noticed myself today just reaching for my bag, looking for my phone, wondering where it is. Then I have to resort to talking to the person next to me or doing more studying," student Grace Lachman said.
So, it's three days of pens, paper, and lots of books, and tuning in to the school days of what seems like just a few short years ago.
