The staff and students of Gladmar Regional School are pledging to take a break from social Media.
They have realized how much control technology has taken over our lives and plan to take a stand. Those who joined in the activity refrained from using any and all social media sites from May 20 until May 23.
Successful participants received prizes while those who failed learned valuable information about themselves and a possible addiction to technology.
The school hallways were decorated with exciting posters and a bulletin board has been turned into the school's very own physical "Facebook."
A "real" Facebook group was created in order to advertise and to survey participants on their tech timeout experiences.
Marty Riemer and Michael Stusser are the creators of documentary Sleeping with Siri and collaborators for the TTOAC and are working with Foresters, an international financial services provider, to bring the TTOAC to schools across North America. The program encourages young people to recognize the negative effects of technology overload.
Issaquah High School near Seattle, WA was the first school to take the challenge. Since then, over 400 schools have signed up to be a part of the movement.
Gladmar Regional School was the first Canadian school to take the Tech Timeout Academic Challenge. The entire staff and student body will be participating, including the kindergartners in this K-12 school.
