WOODBURY- “I’m just like so tired of looking at a screen all day– give me a break please!”  said Paloma Koemp, a sophomore at Nonnewaug. 

When walking into Nonnewaug High School, you will see students with all different types of technology at their hands: AirPods to MacBooks, to Apple watches to Chromebooks, our brains are inundated with stimulation, but is this necessarily a good thing? 

Though we are very fortunate to have such accessible technology, there can be a thing as of too much. 

Even right now I am writing this article on my MacBook exposing my eyes to harmful blue light. Constant exposure to blue light over time could damage retinal cells and cause vision problems

When walking further into the classroom, you’ll see the Smart Boards with lesson plans for the day. Even though technology is used to help students learn, and as this might be true, can’t it be as easily distracting?

Yes. It can be.

“I think overall in the classroom, computers are way more of a distraction,” said Rebecca Trzaski, a History instructor at Nonnewaug. “That’s why I try to do as much as I can on paper, because why would a student ever put in their full effort to complete an assignment on the computer when they can just Google an answer and copy and paste it.”

And it’s not just teachers who think there is to much technology at school.

 “I take notes in a notebook because I think it helps me remember when I write it down more by hand.” said Scarlett Ivey, a sophomore. “I also like worksheets because I think it’s just easier for me to do it, because it’s all right there, and I don’t have to look back and forth. And sometimes when it’s a lot of work I get a headache [from the screens].”

According to NBC News, teenagers who have been prescribed glasses have doubled in the past decade due to screen exposure. 

Among Nonnewaug teachers, providing opportunities for students to escape the wrath of the screen is something they’re constantly thinking about, but they are also thinking about what is the correct thing to do to actually help their students.

“It’s scientifically proven that the same parts of the brain that are used for remembering are the same part as writing,” Trzaski said, “and when you’re typing it’s not the same as when you’re actually taking notes.” 

Adding the benefits of taking student eyes off of screens is the ability to monitor, and control, cases of plagiarism. With so much access to the digital world, students are constantly tempted by just using Google. Also taking away other distractions that may cause them to un-focus from what a teacher or peer is presenting or teaching.

Culinary instructor, John Dominello teaches all the culinary classes at NHS and also has a strong opinion on computers, understanding the delicate balance between teaching and the distraction computers can create. 

“Computers are too distracting. There could be a million different reasons. The student could be bored, people only have so long an attention span that they’re going to last. It could be after a couple minutes or it could be after 10 minutes, and it’s not just with kids,” Dominello said, who has also seen technology’s impact on his own learning. “I did grad work about five years ago, and I remember sitting next to someone, and they were shopping for sneakers every day. 
And these are adults, like a 40 year old adult and another person had a MacBook, so they were texting people the entire period, adults do the same thing kids do, when a teacher walks around to ask you a question, they hit the other tabs, so it looks like you are on the classwork tab.”

No matter what, there is always going to be technology but taking a step back wouldn’t hurt. 

 “Students are just going to take the easy way out, no matter what. I’m going to try to continue to challenge them to actually think, and grow their brains because there’s a limited amount of time in your life where your brain will actually grow,” Trzaski said. “I’m going to keep doing things on paper and I’m going to do my best to continue to challenge the students to learn.”

This is an opinion piece by Kailey Townsend-Meeker class of 2027.