It’s that time of year again. Sure, it’s the holiday season. But for lots of students, it’s time to turn in final projects and take those dreaded exams. For students in Dr. Audrey Wagstaff’s “Mass Media in a Global Society” course, it’s time to reflect on their Media Exclusion Project.

Each fall, professor of social science and communication Arts Wagstaff teaches the course and assigns a 24-hour device-free project. During a 24-hour period of their choosing, students must unplug from their devices, keep a journal chronicling their experiences, and submit a paper connecting course concepts and readings to the assignment. They also share their reflections during their final exam period.

“I love this project so much,” Wagstaff said. “But I also cringe when I first introduce it because of some of the looks I get. So, we continue to talk about it and to prepare for it throughout the semester. I assign Sherry Turkle’s book ‘Reclaiming Conversation,’ and as the students progress through it, they begin to think more mindfully about their relationships with their devices. I’d like to think this makes the notion of unplugging a bit more palatable.”

While many students approach this project with reluctance, they often emerge from the experience with positive memories – and effects.

As one student reflected, “At the end of the night, I felt more relaxed. I’m not sure how to explain it but my brain felt like it had more space in it at the end of the day.”

Several students chose to engage in exclusion over the Thanksgiving holiday break.

One student even got her family to participate. She wrote, “At the beginning of the day, I told my family members about the media exclusion assignment, and many decided to set aside their technology with me to embrace the phone free day. Having other members of my family complete this assignment with me truly allowed us to have deeper discussions, be more present, and create memories we can look back on.”

The pressure to share memories with others – even those who are not close contacts – was another point of reflection. “In the course, we talk a lot about privacy and how much our devices exploit it. Students are often surprised at how much they give up when they post on social media, like or follow something, and, of course when they agree to those terms and conditions.”

“It was a relief to not share intimate portions of our lives on social media during the holidays. Or to project a certain story that maybe is not completely honest. When I logged back into Facebook on 11/26, I realized I have so many friends who have rough family situations going on that projected a persona for Thanksgiving that was not exactly factual. Turkle called this the ‘Panopticon effect’ which is where people mold what they want others to perceive as factual on social media. All the smiles and hugs being shown but not really raw honesty in those posts.”

Another student reflected on “family time” spent during the holidays while she was seemingly the only one in the room who was disconnected.

“Do people even know what they look like when they’re on their phone at social gatherings? In an attempt to reconnect with society, I realized I had actually isolated myself in a room full of people who were hunched over with a double chin, faces glowing with the light from their devices. This however, gave me time to do one of my favorite activities, which would be people watching. It’s a little bizarre to see a family sitting at dinner together, but they’re all on their phones. Turkle said that being on your phone among other people shows them that you don’t care and that whatever is on your phone is more important than their presence. After experiencing it myself, I made a silent promise that I would make sure I never made anyone feel that way.”

Students also grapple with other concepts discussed in the course such as the notion of a catastrophe culture.

“With our devices serving as an appendage, we are essentially socialized to be expected to respond immediately when someone reaches out to us. It could be an emergency,” Wagstaff said. “We spend a lot of time in the course discussing whether it can wait and the differences between needs and wants.”

As one student wrote, “When I told one of my family members that I was spending 24 hours off the media, they said, ‘Well, it’s rude not to respond to people when they message you.’ I wondered when exactly it became a social norm to have to respond to electronic messages 24/7. Why did I feel the need to text everyone ‘FYI I’ll be off my phone tomorrow for a school project!’ We’ve become used to instant communication, and it’s extremely useful, but also exhausting to keep up with at times.”

Another student reflected “This media exclusion project assisted me in shedding light that I do not ‘need’ a device to survive in this world.”

An additional common theme across students’ experiences is the realization of how much time they spend with their devices and on social media.

“Many students will say ‘Wow! I will just check my Instagram or TikTok and suddenly I’ve been scrolling for an hour,’” Wagstaff said. “With all of that ‘extra’ time, they begin to notice more. More details. Their surroundings are suddenly more vivid. It’s illuminating.”

One student reflected about the passage of time. “I realized I was never aware of how much time would pass if I was listening to music or on social media. I have recalled times when I would spend hours on TikTok, and it only felt like I was on there for a short amount of time. I was taking the time to become more mindful of the time.”

Students spent more quality time with family members engaging in work and play. As one student who helped his sister feed the animals in the barn wrote, “When you come face-to-face with baby goats, you aren’t very concerned with what’s happening online.”

“Being unconcerned with what is happening online and more concern about being present in the present is another positive outcome of this project,” Wagstaff remarked. Many students pledge to take more consistent, mindful breaks from their devices in the future. They see the benefits for their relationships with others and with themselves.”

As one student concluded, “Okay, so here’s the fun part. First, without constantly checking out what everyone else was doing online, I started to appreciate just being me. No more comparing myself to Instagram perfection – just real, unfiltered me. You won’t believe this, removing screens didn’t just silence the tech noise; it changed the whole vibe of my room. It was like my space took a chill pill. No more digital clutter, just good old peaceful surroundings.”