Students Invite Others to Declare Their Independence from Technology
By: Izabel Johnson
On Tuesday, February 18, five students at UMD asked that others join them in unplugging from technology and working to form connections with one another instead of with their screens. The event was called Connection Day.
The idea started as an assignment in one of Instructor Susan Perela-Dewey’s (English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies) classes, and she encouraged the students to take it further than the classroom. She, along with Dr. Jennifer Moore (Communication), supported the students in the Connection Day effort.
Connection Day was previewed with an OP-Ed and an article in UMD’s The Bark, a preview story through University Marketing and Public Relations, live reporting by Moore’s Digital Storytelling class on The Bark’s social media the night before, and a column by one of the Connection Day founders, Trevor Peterson, in the Duluth News Tribune. Articles released on or after February 18 included one written by the Duluth News Tribune and one by Minnesota Public Radio.
The events centering around Connection Day were located in multiple spots on campus throughout the day.
There were name tags for people to make and a place to write commitments to connect with one another on that day. Some commitments included things like smiling and saying “Hi” to multiple people or taking out headphones for the day. A raffle also took place, along with other events like a craft night in Kirby. Oh, and of course there were cookies.
A lot of students were unaware of the event until the day of. Nevertheless, the event received a generally positive response and drew attention to the issue of technology in our lives. Even if students chose not to participate, the message being sent was hard to ignore.
The founders, Kelly Gilomen, Kendra Kvebak, Trevor Peterson, Tiana Forbes, and Paige Wagner all stated that spreading awareness was one of the main goals of Connection Day. With that in mind, it is safe to say that their mission was accomplished.
The founders hope that Connection Day will not simply be a thing of the past, but a recurring event on and off UMD campus.