In light of CES’s current campaign to help advance CCS’s computer system, my last couple blog posts have shared about the value of keeping up with technology in today’s world. This week’s post tackles the same topic but from a different angle.

A week ago, a couple of my sisters were visiting. One mentioned a challenge that was put forth by a yogurt company. According to the challenge, folks could apply to be one of ten contestants chosen to win $10,000 each by being willing to unplug from their Smartphones for 30 days (in exchange for an old-fangled flip phone for that duration of time). The point of the challenge was agreeing to live a simpler life for 30 days.

When my sister shared the challenge, I unhesitatingly announced that I could do it. My husband insultingly laughed — long and hard, clearly not buying my self-assessment of my ability to unplug. Frankly, I did not think it would be too hard to do, as I mainly use my phone to do research; type notes; send/receive texts, emails, and Teams messages; and as a GPS (since my sense of direction stinks). Truthfully, I could do all those tasks using my laptop (permitted in the challenge), with the exception of having to buy a “real” GPS for navigational purposes (also permitted). I came very close to applying to be a contestant, even if just to prove to my scoffing husband (to whom I’ve been married 39 years and love dearly) that I could do it. The deadline for applying was this past Wednesday the 31st.

The day before the deadline, I had to call 911 for a family member and followed the ambulance to the hospital located a couple towns over from where we live. While there, my Smartphone’s home security Ring notification went off. I went to the Ring app, expecting to see an Amazon delivery back at the house. (I shamefully admit that Amazon and I are besties.) Instead, I was flabbergasted to see a live video of official-looking vehicles parked along the street directly in front of our house, as well as a police officer stealthily making his way past our front door while holding some kind of long-armed assault weapon in fire-ready position. He was furtively heading toward the wooded area to the side of the house.

It took a moment for my brain and my eyes to sync together. After all, we live on a quiet street in a basically rural (still somewhat agricultural) town. Realizing my husband was back at the house working in his office in the basement and knowing he also has the Ring app on his phone, I called him to find out what in the world was going on. He immediately answered and said he was on his way upstairs to find out and would call me back.

I turned my attention back to the live Ring video. I saw the officer turn to his left, presumably toward my husband, who had likely walked outside the side door and toward the front of the house. The officer waved his hand as if to say “Back off!” and ran in the direction from where my husband (not in view) would have been coming. My husband called me a couple minutes later and told me the officer motioned for him to go back inside the house and subsequently ran to the side door to tell my husband to lock all the doors, go downstairs, and stay there as something was going down with a neighbor. The officer wanted my husband to stay safe if things went south.

The next few hours in the emergency room were spent watching the unfolding Ring drama, in between ER testing procedures and long periods of waiting to learn results. By the time we left the hospital, the police presence back at home had dissipated and all was once again peaceful on our quiet little street. (In case you are wondering what caused all the hullabaloo, a neighbor apparently had a mental health crisis.)

When I got home, it occurred to me that if I applied to be an unplugged contestant for 30 days, and if another Ring incident were to happen during those 30 days, I would be in the dark instead of seeing the live, play-by-play details of the unfolding drama. Would that be a bad thing? Not necessarily, I suppose. In fact, how do I know for certain that similar scenes hadn’t occurred hundreds or thousands of times in the past when we were not home, before we fairly recently got the Ring?

What’s that philosophical question? If a tree falls in a forest but nobody is around, does it make a sound while falling? Somewhat similarly, if an officer with a drawn assault rifle slinks past our front door while I’m not home, do I need to know it ever happened? Is ignorance blissful? Is the yogurt company onto something about the simplicity of life?

In the end, I opted out of engaging in that philosophical study. I decided $10,000 was not a high enough reward to unplug for a month. Perhaps my husband’s guffaw was justified after all (but don’t tell him I said that 😉).

The bottom line is that many of us have become quite dependent on advancing technology in today’s world. While we all need to choose how closely we want to walk in step with the technology in our personal lives, it is still the responsibility of educators to provide adequate tools for students to learn what they need to learn to make that choice for themselves when they one day embark upon the world of “adulting” (as the younger generation likes to say). Here at CES, we are grateful to be able to help CCS advance its technology through our computer upgrade campaign.

As with all things, including the advancement of technology, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (I Corinthians 10:31, NIV)