Hold the Phone: Students Partake in Distraction-Free Dining Experience

Sometimes the best way to connect with each other is to disconnect from technology. This weekend, as part of ASAP’s (Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention) Date Week initiative, students eating dinner in Thorne dining hall were given the option of going cell phone-less for their meal. Buckets for cellphones were provided at the end of each table, with signs on them urging students to chuck their phones in them and “have a meal without distractions.”

Meredith Christian ’16 was one student who opted to put her phone in the bin. “Even though my meal in the dining hall was just a regular dinner with friends, it was nice to be able to focus on my dinner companions rather than emails I was expecting,” she said. Other students also were willing to put their phones away for the event, though a few said that the initiative didn’t change their dining experience because they didn’t typically use their cellphones during meals anyway.

Date Week is an annual event hosted by ASAP to foster an environment where dating is a viable romantic option and to encourage students to develop and strengthen their relationships, whether those bonds are romantic or platonic. Date Week’s other events include a student panel about relationships, a movie screening, a table for writing and sending anonymous love notes, and a “Dating Game” in the Pub. Date week is sponsored by ASAP with help from other student organizations on campus, including Peer Health.