Where are you reading this article? Maybe you picked it up on your way to grab oatmeal at Collis, but most likely you're reading it on your computer or phone. Like most people in America, many Dartmouth students spend a solid part of their day behind a screen. According to a 2009 Nielsen study, the average American adult spends about 8.5 hours a day looking at a screen. That's more than one-third of the day, and keep in mind that the Nielsen study occurred before the iPad had come out.
At Dartmouth, increased screen time is in part a result of the amount of information students must keep track of to keep up with classes and classmates. Students use their phones and computers to check Blitz and Blackboard, write papers and do online research. When social networks are factored in, the average Dartmouth day practically revolves around different apps and websites.
After spending the summer in rural Virginia, I forgot how inundated with information I would be upon arriving in Hanover. Students receive up to 100 blitzes a day, which requires sorting through and deleting the unwanted emails. It is not uncommon to walk to class and see the majority of students you pass on campus absorbed in their phones. The pace of the 10-week quarter can make students feel like they must use every chunk of free time, no matter how small, to respond to emails or check homework assignments. Otherwise, the 10 minutes between an 11 and a 12 would be a waste of time. The Dartmouth essentially becomes 10 weeks of nonstop multitasking.
In addition, students here, like students across the nation, often bring their computers and cell phones to class. A 2011 study conducted at Johnson and Wales University revealed that 66 percent of students check social networks during class; having spent one year at Dartmouth, I can attest that this figure seems accurate. Yet, at a school that U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks as number one for undergraduate teaching, it is even more self-defeating to log on Facebook or play Candy Crush during class at Dartmouth than it is at other schools. Our four years with these top-ranked professors are short, so reading Buzzfeed articles can wait.
Browsing the web during class may be the most obvious instance of ill-timed multitasking, but staying glued to a phone screen while walking across campus or sitting with friends is also a misuse of time at Dartmouth. After my first three terms here, I discovered that more than half of the learning I did during my freshman year was a result of the people I hung out with rather than the classes I took. Because Hanover is so small and the Dartmouth community is so close, there is so much room for exposure to people from all over the world, each with his or her own distinct narrative. Staying on top of Blitz and Blackboard is necessary to succeed at Dartmouth, but not to the extent that it harms your opportunity to make the personal connections that Dartmouth students are uniquely able to experience.
Dartmouth, with all of its flaws, is undoubtedly a special place, and as I begin my first week of sophomore year, I can already tell that no matter how endless some weeks feel, time goes by here at a pace that can be frightening. Whether you just arrived on campus or you are starting your senior year, make sure you're not spending too much time on your phone or laptop. Dartmouth students often call each other out on facetime, but screen time is worse. I would much rather see someone walking back and forth First-Floor Berry talking to every person he runs into than see someone use their walk from Kemeny to Thornton to compose Twitter drafts.
I am not encouraging you to throw your phone out the window or abandon your laptop, but rather to try to make an effort to reduce unnecessary screen time. Write your papers and check your emails; just don't let your screen interfere with making the most of your time at Dartmouth.
