Taking a break from technology is a good idea

Few of us would be surprised by a finding in research done by the University of California, San Diego, that the average person today consumes almost three times as much information as what the typical person consumed in 1960.

There is a lot of talk about people being able to "multitask," but the truth is, it doesn't exist. Some of us are just faster at switching back and forth between different tasks.

New York Times technology writer Matt Richtel says that rather than adding to our lives, technology is encroaching to the point that it is distracting us and impeding our productivity.

"When you check your information, when you get a buzz in your pocket, when you get a ring -- you get what they call a dopamine squirt," he told National Public Radio. "Well, guess what happens in its absence? You feel bored. You're conditioned by a neurological response: 'Check me check me check me check me.'"

It's particularly worrying in childhood, when heavy technology like video games may fundamentally alter the frontal lobe and lead to poor decision-making, and how the brain is rewired by being constantly inundated with new information.

In response, a Connecticut high school announced today that it plans to ban the use of technology every Tuesday in September.

Dubbed "No-Tech Tuesdays," the event resulted from a campus-wide meeting at Hyde School in Woodstock, Connecticut, where students and faculty discussed the strengths and obstacles technology provides to those who use it.

"One common pitfall expressed was the decline of face-to-face interaction as a result of choosing electronic messaging over any other form of communication," according to a release from the school.

Head of School Laura Gauld said she and her colleagues, who teach teenagers between 14 and 19, see firsthand how technology has paradoxically resulted in isolation for many young people, often turning them away from meaningful relationships with their families, friends and peers.

Andy, while many schools, including Hyde, ban the use of cell phones and text messaging, the average teenager sends about 50 text messages a day at school.

Gauld hopes the experiment, which will be reassessed by students and teachers at the end of the month, will be another learning experience.

"As with everything else, our relationship with technology is related to our character, principles and the choices we make," she said. "We all find ways to bend the rules, but if we understand how things are directly impacting our lives -- negatively and positively -- we're more likely to do the thing that brings us out on top."

If only all of us could learn that lesson.

But the "no technology for a day" idea is a good one. This Labor Day weekend would be a good one to give it a try.