When conversations about student loneliness and isolation come up, we often reach for the same culprit: phones. Students seem disconnected? Phones. Nobody is talking in the elevator? Phones. Attendance is down? Phones. Relationships feel shallower? You guessed it: It’s the phones.
The appeal of this explanation is that it’s simple, but the problem is that it’s incomplete.
As educators, we already know that abstinence-only approaches don’t work when it comes to things like alcohol or sex. So why do we sometimes approach technology the same way? We know screens aren’t going away anytime soon, so why are we approaching this way? Similar to the aforementioned topics, the goal shouldn’t be demonizing screen time, but rather, helping students use technology in ways that support them.
The Ways Screens Help Students
Let’s remember that internet access often creates opportunities for connection in a way that hadn’t existed decades before. Here are a few benefits that directly impact student life:
Community for those with marginalized identities. Students from marginalized communities—including LGBTQ+ students, students of color, and others who may not see themselves reflected in their hometowns—can find affirmation, support, and belonging online. For many, social media provides access to communities that play an important role in identity development long before they arrive on campus.
Building connections before they arrive. Students also routinely use technology to build connections before they ever move into a residence hall. Future roommates connect through social media, discuss room layouts, negotiate living preferences, and start building a relationship weeks or months before move-in day.
Increased access to resources. Campus resources, institutional knowledge, event information, and academic support are all more accessible than they’ve ever been. While social capital still matters when navigating a university, the internet has lowered barriers for many students.
Organization, time management, and communication. Especially for students who are neurodivergent, digital tools can make organization and time management significantly more manageable. Reminders, calendars, and task-management apps help students stay engaged with both their academics and their communities.
So no, the phones aren’t the problem. The problem starts when technology replaces opportunities for connection instead of supporting them. I’m talking about the moments when students are already together but everyone’s attention is somewhere else: the residence hall lounge full of students sitting side-by-side but existing in different digital worlds, the meeting where every interaction happens through a QR code, or the program where participants spend more time looking down than looking at one another.
Two Calls to Action
1. Lead by example. Many of us are living the same reality we criticize.We wake up and scroll social media. We stream something while getting ready. We use navigation and entertainment apps during our commute. We spend the workday moving between laptops, projectors, and Zoom meetings. Then we go home and unwind with even more screens. And then we’re appalled when students do the same.The irony should not be lost on us.
And, I’m not suggesting that professionals give up technology. That would be unrealistic and, frankly, counterproductive. I am suggesting that we intentionally create moments in our own lives to be present with others.
Have a walking meeting. Print a physical agenda. Skip the PowerPoint occasionally. Choose an activity that gets people talking to one another instead of staring at a screen together. Need more ideas? Check out this blog post:
If we want students to believe that face-to-face interaction matters, they should see us modeling it, and we have to believe it ourselves.
2. Give them a reason to put their screens away. Too often, we’ve started treating technology as synonymous with engagement. And while technology can absolutely make our work more accessible and efficient, we’re often missing the mark on the engagement we’re hoping for. If every training uses an online polling platform or a digital game, are we really teaching them how to engage?
To be more clear, what are you offering students that engages their hands, their senses, and their attention? Paint. Draw. Build. Sort. Arrange. Cook. Write. Create. Design experiences that require students to interact with one another rather than simply respond to a prompt on a screen.
Just like sex and alcohol, we know the answer to student isolation isn’t trying to take away the thing they’re engaging in entirely. In this case, our goal is building communities that are more interesting, meaningful, and human than whatever is happening on their screens in the first place.
