What does it mean to be fully present? Is it possible to be here in this moment with you and not be distracted by my “to-do” lists or the ever-emerging messages piercing notifications through my many devices and platforms?

Research around going “tech-free” for even a short while suggests improved memory, increased creativity, decreased stress, and the experience of fewer sleep disturbances. When we stop to fully engage in a moment, a conversation, or an activity, especially in this hyper-technological world full of distractions, we increase the possibility of becoming more aware of our emotions, noticing body sensations and what they may mean to us. For children, having time to process what is happening inside themselves without external provocation is an essential aspect of our purpose as a school.

Communication technology continues to morph into an extension of our intimate lives in visible and non-visible ways. Cameras are omnipresent – they track our movements; they’re in our hands to record our minute-to-minute autobiographies; they allow us to transport distant professional contacts, friends, and family into our immediate personal space. The world is literally at our fingertips.

But how does that world connect to the “real world” we are living in, in the here and now? Having someone look down at their phone and laugh while in a physically close social situation is a bit like being left out of an inside joke or a secret. It can be awkward and isolating when you are not included.

We ask our students to have their phones away and off during school hours. We ask that their computers and personal handheld devices be used as tools for learning. With a sense of “doing as we say,” Oak Grove staff continually review the decorum around our use of technology. This includes practicing a consciousness around the use of our cell phones while walking through campus or in front of colleagues, students, and parents. We have also been looking at how we use our computers during meetings. When do we actually need our computer to take notes? When is it important to close our computer and to actively listen?

At Oak Grove we offer our students a slow introduction to digital technological learning tools within the classroom, beginning in 3rd grade. Each year of learning brings increased use of such tools and also more reflection on the impact of those tools. Part of that reflection is providing students opportunities to practice tech-free learning throughout the year and to be completely tech-free for one Unplugged Day.

On Monday, March 10 we celebrated Unplug Day here on campus. What could your day look like unplugged? I wonder if you might notice a different quality of attention for all that is before you and that within?

“There are the states of inattention and of attention. When you are completely giving your mind, your heart, your nerves, everything you have, to attend, then the old habits, the mechanical responses, do not enter into it, thought does not come into it at all. . . What takes place? There is inattention and rare attention and we are trying to bridge the one to the other. How can my inattention become attention or, can attention be complete, all the time?”

-K, Talks and Dialogues, Saanen, Switzerland, 1968