The students of Bob Graham Education Center fell off the cyber grid for a weekend to better understand what Henry David Thoreau, author and philosopher of the 1800's, experienced when he separated himself from society for two years, two months and two days in the woods, a time he penned in his novel Walden.
The students completed the 63 hour-long fast that began Friday, September 20 at 5 p.m., and ended on Sunday, September 22, for a social experiment that involved abstaining from all social media and technology for the entire weekend. This included all television, gaming consoles, cell phones, tablets, social media and mobile apps for any purpose other than communicating with parents or completing home assignments.
Students spent the last few weeks reading Thoreau's poetry leading up to the 100th anniversary of the publication of Walden. The social media and technology fast is designed to give students a deeper awareness of their reliances on modern conveniences and to inspire them to write about what they learned as a result of doing without these "necessities" for a short time.
The staff and faculty at Bob Graham Education Center congratulate their students for achieving their technology-free weekend.