Renaissance Middle School will participate in the “UNPLUG” initiative on Tues., Feb. 14. Although the National Day of Unplugging from technology is the first day of March, Renaissance is kicking off its campaign on Valentine’s Day and will continue to schedule digital detox days in the future. “We are hopeful that our students and staff will 'fall in love' with being unplugged for the day,” said Principal Maria Francisco. “Our overall goal by participating in UNPLUG is to elevate human connections over digital engagement so we all feel less alone.”
When the National Day of Unplugging awareness campaign began in 2009, very little academic and clinical research had been conducted about the long-term impact of smartphone/tech use on mental health. Recognizing the need for awareness of what might become a bigger problem, the Jewish arts and culture non-profit
Reboot launched in partnership with
Sabbath Manifesto, a project designed to slow down lives in an increasingly hectic world. What was once a small group of people gathering for tech-free Shabbat dinners turned into thousands of world-wide communities organizing unplugged events, year after year.
There is now overwhelming
research that shows that health and human connections have been adversely impacted by overuse of tech-specifically after the recent global pandemic.
In a message to families, Principal Maria Francisco said, “We ask that you help us make our first Unplugged day a success by discussing with your children the positive impacts of connections when we spend less time on our devices. We encourage students to keep their phones (smartwatches and Airpods too) home or off for the day,” she said. “Our staff has been encouraged to do the same. Students and staff will not have access to school-provided technology on our UNPLUG Day.”