From the Cardinal Newman Society (see their feed on my sidebar):
Wyoming Catholic College is in the news recently because of its on-campus cell phone ban for students.
The ban, which has been in place since the founding of the faithful Catholic college, has all of a sudden become the focus of dozens of news organizations as diverse as YahooNews,The Malaysia Sun and Fox Philadelphia.
But as long ago as 2007, Inside Higher Ed wrote a piece on the cell phone ban with the lede, “Don’t try reaching a Wyoming Catholic College student by cell. Students can’t have cell phones on campus – a donated cattle ranch in western Wyoming’s Wind River Mountain Range – or in the surrounding towns.”
But perhaps the idea of living without a phone has become so unthinkable in recent years, that the fact that the Catholic college hasn’t changed, is, in fact, newsworthy.
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Go see the rest of the piece over there! That is, use the link on the sidebar.
Also, click that link to Wyoming Catholic College, also on my sidebar.
Remember the photo I took when I was at a conference in Phoenix? I visited the booth of WCC and saw this:
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Actually, I have just given up my smart cell phone. I was tired of being available at all times and also being chained to something overpriced and overvalued. I also do not want anyone knowing where I am at all times. That is creepy.
I stopped mine and am temporarily using a really basic one for emergencies only and absolutely necessary planning calls. It cannot DO anything I shall give it up in one month.
We all talk too much about trivia. We need to build community around us, in the here and now. That is most likely part of the ethos of the college, I would guess. If one is constantly thinking or talking to people who are not around, one is not present to those who are. Discipline to live in the present.
Being in the monastery showed me what I can really do without. God has me doing the blog and commenting, but if I hear the word to stop, as it were. I would not miss either. I think that is the second point, after being present-detachment. For a long time, civilization flourished without the cell phone. And, perhaps Wyoming is training a generation for times to come.
The Japanese anime Silver Spoon is set at a national-level agricultural public high school in Hokkaido (closely based on a real one). The place is so far out in the country that it’s a boarding school, and the kids are kept so busy that they have to hand in their cellphones as soon as they check into their dorms.
It’s not that weird of a policy.
My oldest son just spent 10 days at WCC in an immersion Latin camp. He loved the campus, the instructors, the town, and the lack of electronics. Of course, he was the sort who only got and took a cellphone at all becuase his mother worries….
He had been very dismissive of college before his visit (he wants to write and go into the trades) but is now considering WCC.