Ted is a freshman at Iowa State. Everyday on the way to class, Ted is wearing headphones and texting his friends. During class, Ted is on his laptop checking his Twitter and Facebook. In the afternoon, Ted watches Netflix and is on sites such as the Chive and Reddit. Ted spends more time with his face plugged into the Internet than paying any attention to the world around him. The sad thing is that Ted is not the only one.

Like many other students, I too get sucked into the wave of the Internet. I spend a lot more time on Twitter and Yik Yak than I would care to admit. I text on the way to class and I am checking emails during many of my classes. I am tired of being absorbed in technology. Ames and the Iowa State campus are beautiful areas. We live on one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, yet rather than spending time taking in the scenery while walking to class, we are checking for the newest iOS updates on our iPhones. 

Now is the time to make a change. We students cannot continue to keep being robots while walking to class. We are missing so many face-to-face interactions everyday because we are more concerned with watching a new vine on the way to class than possibly being able to meet someone new.

A video titled “Look Up” is a poem about all of the opportunities that people miss when they are looking down at their phones all the time. After watching this video, I too realized that are so many little things that I miss on campus just from keeping my head down looking at my phone.

The area near Carver Hall is literally covered with chalk drawings or messages telling people when there are upcoming meetings. Getting involved in new college organizations and clubs are some of the things that make college great, yet we might miss the flyer, sidewalk message or banner showing when the meetings we are interested in take place because we don’t want to miss the opportunity to tweet at our best friends for the 29th time in a row today.

The passing hours are not the only times during the day that we are more focused on the Internet than the world around us. Many times during the day, I find myself at the beginning of class taking notes on my laptop but by the end, I have at least three different social media sites open. 

The university doesn’t help students keep from being dependent on the Internet, when most professors put our homework on Blackboard or to be turned in via email. Even if we were trying to avoid being controlled by our computers, eventually we will have to spend a few hours online trying to make sure all of our homework is done.

The saddest part is that we as a society don’t see a problem with spending a large majority of our time everyday in front of a tiny little screen. This is in no way a public service announcement telling you to stop using technology forever, it is simply a reminder that there is a world outside that tiny screen.

Try spending at least an hour a day with your phones and laptops turned off. It can be nice to take a small break from the world of technology and spend some time taking in the world around you. Spend time with your friends, be outside or start a craft or project. In a world where everyone is consumed with technology, step back into the real world and take a breather.