On October 13, 2017 teachers and students of South Forsyth High School were encouraged to participate in No Notifications Day. The goal of this day was to see if you control your technology, or if your technology controls you.

“The whole point of No Notifications Day was to try to raise student awareness on how dependent we are on our electronic devices and to try to empower people to take charge of their own technology,” said Mr. Jeff White, the Instructional Technologist at South Forsyth.

There were 3 separate levels of participation that students were encouraged to participate in: Level 1 was turning off your push notifications, Level 2 was turning off your push notifications and not participating in unnecessary activities like social media and games. Level 3 was the most extreme, challenging students and teachers to leave their phones at home or in their locker or bag to see if they could go the whole day without interacting with their technology.

“I think the concept was great, but I think more people would do it if a prize was involved,” 9th grade Celia Porter said. This day tested students to see if they are too involved with social media, and encouraged them to take a break from the distractions that social media may have on young teens and adults.