Unplug Day challenges students to disconnect

By Trinity Humphrey

General Reporter

On April 29, 2026, students and staff at Crete-Monee High School participated in their first-ever Unplug Day, putting away their devices to focus on real-world connections.

Freshman Chase Stone is forced to turn off his Chromebook and use paper and pencil during Unplug Day on April 29. Photo by Alasia Jamison.

This day was planned as a drill to protect students from cyber attacks targeted at our school.

Throughout the school day, classrooms had to switch from their regular digital work to hands-on, paper-based assignments. While some students were unsure what to expect, others saw the day as an opportunity to take a break from their screens and focus more on their work, teachers, and peers.

“I think it felt weird and different since I always have my phone,” Kayli Stokes said. She

explained that without her normal access to entertainment, she was forced to adjust. “This is

very different because usually I would go on my phone, watch TikTok, play Roblox, but I wasn't able to do that.”

Regardless of the adjustment, Stokes believed the experience had certain importance and

would recommend it to other students.

“I would recommend it because it's just for one day without your phone and Chromebook,”

Stokes said.

She also suggested that the school should continue this in the future.

“I think we should have more days like this because kids are usually very addicted to their

devices and wouldn't really know what to do without them, so it is really good to have these days,” Stokes said.

Other students had a more neutral opinion going into the day. Freshman Mercedes Davis

expected things to stay mostly the same throughout the day.

“I expect the day to go fine because we don't use our Chromebooks that much anyway,” Davis said.

However, Davis thought that limiting technology was beneficial.

“I think we should have more days like this because everybody's always on their phones and Chromebooks, not being very focused,” she said.

Days like Unplug Day can also affect how students learn. According to a blog published by

Tennessee Technological University, which also references research by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer, students who write notes by hand tend to understand and remember

information better than students who type on laptops. The research explains that writing notes helps students think about what they are learning instead of just copying the information.

For some students, the day showed how much technology is used in a normal day of school.

Freshman Jordyn Sanchez explained that many of her classes depend on computers. “To be

honest, yeah, because I think that it provides a way for students to learn and especially get all of their work done,” Sanchez said. “I feel like barely any of my teachers nowadays have

handwritten assignments; they're mostly online.” Sanchez expected the day to feel slower without the technology.

“I expect the unplugged day to go a little slow since all the technology will be cut off, especially for the teachers, too.”

She also stated that some students might be upset about not having access to the internet and their Chromebooks throughout the day.

“I feel like students will be a little upset at the fact that there won't be any internet because, as I said, most teachers use technology and so do students. I know a lot of students who slack off and play video games on their Chromebooks, so I know they'll be a little upset. And I especially feel like there might be a little fuss about phones too, but I don't really know because I know a lot of people use data off of their phone and everything.” Sanchez said.

After experiencing the day, Sanchez said that it was different from what she expected it to be. She also noticed a positive effect of not having technology for the day.

“I actually would say I preferred working not on Chromebooks because it helps me and other

students stay on task,” Sanchez said.

Mr. Blough, a teacher at Crete-Monee High School, explained that the no-technology day may be a challenge for students.

“I think students will find it challenging in one way or another,” Blough said. “We use a lot of

technology in our daily lives, and adjusting to being tech-free may take some time.”

Blough also noticed that students might be more focused overall without technology. He

believes that having more technology-free days could be helpful for students.

“I think students will be less distracted than on days where we do include tech in the

classroom,” Mr. Blough said. “I think doing more tech-free days in the future will be beneficial to encourage us to think about our screen time.”

Overall, Unplug Day gave students and teachers a new experience and showed both positives and negatives of learning without technology. While some students preferred using devices, others found it easier to focus without them.