N. Bedford 'Unplugs' Students and Teachers for a Day

Northern Bedford County Middle and High Schools implemented an “unplugged day” where laptops, computers, cellphones, email, smartboards, and other internet-connected devices were off-limits to raise awareness about the impact of technology on students and staff.

Middle school Principal Kendra Pritchett said the only exceptions were landline phones, copy machines, and essential security equipment.

“We found that a lot of the things we do on a daily basis, we had to figure out a different way to do it,” she said

Pritchett said the idea came from a teacher in-service at the beginning of the school year where staff watched the documentary “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix.

This was the beginning of discussions about the role of technology in classrooms and how distracting it could be for both students and teachers.

Pritchett said the “unplugged” day emerged as a way for both to experience a day without technology.

The documentary was also shown to the district’s middle and high schools.

Afterwards, she saw some students comparing the screen time on their phones and were shocked about the amount of time they spent on the devices.

Pritchett said the absence of technology challenged daily routines.

“There was a particular teacher who uses Alexa on a daily basis. He went to set the timer and realized that it was connected to the internet which caused the neighboring teacher to confiscate it,” she said.

Pritchett said teachers and her that were accustomed to communicating through email had to find alternative ways of talking to each other.

Instead of sending her daily morning emails, she wrote them in cursive and delivered the messages to mailboxes.

“It is out of the ordinary for them,” Pritchett said.

She said throughout the day, staff observed students grappling with the absence of devices, especially during lunchtime.

“One girl said, I just don’t know what to do,” Pritchett said.

Some students found the experience awkward, unsure of how to socialize without the distraction of screens, she said.

However, many students welcomed the change, describing it as “kind of fun” and an opportunity to focus on conversations.

Jocelyn Fay, a ninth-grade student at the middle school, said she noticed a lot of people are addicted to their phones and computers.

“As we all get off those, we get to know each other more,” she said.

Fay said that her group always sits with their phon