70’s Flashback for Unplug Day 2024!

March 1st is the Global Day of Unplugging, and at Oak Grove School we observe this day each year by going dark. This means no ParentSquare posts, no emails, no text messages, no laptops, tablets, or smartwatches for the entire school day, with our landline phones being the only method of communication with the outside world.

This year, we celebrated our Unplug Day by dressing in our theme of the 1970s – a time when much of our current technology was not yet available. There were bell bottoms, oversized sunglasses, and flower power galore.

But in addition to having fun, Unplug Day was an opportunity for us to demonstrate unplugging for our students, as well as to challenge ourselves to focus more on the present moment and to reflect on all the ways technology contributes to and detracts from our lives.

Technology has Changed Our Lives

Technology is pervasive in the lives of our children, and there are many ways that it benefits and enriches them, be that by keeping us connected, helping to save lives, improving efficiencies, or reducing our carbon footprint through remote work. Children with learning differences and/or little adult support at home can greatly benefit from thoughtful, research-based learning platforms, which include powerful social-emotional learning as well.

However, excessive technology use and screen time can be harmful to our children’s development, and while it is not possible to shield students entirely from exposure to screens and the media, it is a parental responsibility to regulate and monitor their access to it.

At Oak Grove we advocate for safe screen time and technology use rooted in our fundamental intent to cultivate critical judgment so that children can become discriminating adults. You can review our Technology Policy in our Parent-Student Handbook HERE.

Dr. Tracy Bennett Parent Education Workshop

As part of our intent to support our community, we recently invited Dr. Tracy Bennett to a Parent Education workshop on campus. As the founder and CEO of Get Kids Internet Safe and the author of Screen Time in the Meantime, her session focused on building, maintaining, and restoring digital health for young people.

In addition, many of our parents use, and we also recommend using, Common Sense Media to help guide our decisions around technology use.