Students Ditch Phones, Campus Revives Chalkboards

Students at St. John’s College recently spent one week without smartphones. The experiment, organized by the students themselves, was called a “tech fast.” Participants returned to an old-fashioned form of communication: chalkboards. They used the boards around campus to leave public notes, share information, and even search for missing friends. The event highlighted how quickly physical community boards can replace digital messaging. A chalkboard question asking "Has anyone seen Eliza?" became a widely noticed symbol of the experiment. Organizers say the goal was to encourage more face-to-face interaction. The week-long fast forced students to find creative, analog solutions for daily coordination.