Monthlong Digital Rest has college students unplugging from devices to refocus minds and hearts on God

It’s late at night, you check your social media apps one last time before drifting to sleep, but then one notification becomes five. Five evolves into doomscrolling. Minutes blur into hours. You awake the next morning groggy and unmotivated.

For many college students, this is a brutal cycle, a silent battle between a desire for rest, focus, and connection and the enticing immediate gratification of screentime. While technology offers undeniable benefits, it can also be a massive roadblock for students who want to reach their full potential.

During February, students across Liberty University’s campus are participating in the school’s second annual Digital Rest, a 28-day detox that encourages them to deepen their connection with God and others by unplugging from digital distractions, specifically social media, online shopping, and entertainment.

“In the last two years, there’s been so much research that demonstrates the real effects of prolonged social media usage on mental health,” said Vice President of Spiritual Development Joshua Rutledge, referencing findings from subject-matter experts like authors Andy Crouch, Darren Whitehead, and Dr. Jonathan Haidt. “The enemy’s number one way to speak lies is through this phone. … That’s where so many people are spending their time. That’s where their eyes and their minds are. That’s where you’re going to feed lies, anxiety, and fear. If you want to combat that with the truth of the Gospel, then you’d better figure out how to get through that wall.”

The university launched the Digital Rest during Convocation on Jan. 30 with speaker and writer Joey Odom, who warned that excessive phone use can “choke out every good thing in our lives.” Odom is the co-founder of Aro, a tech company that helps people be more present in the digital age.

Drawing from the parables in Matthew 13, Odom said Jesus cautioned about three specific “thorns” that we can allow to strangle the “fruits” of life: worries, pleasures, and wealth. The thorns, Odom said, are all ruthlessly peddled by overconsumption of social media and digital entertainment.

“The deceitfulness of wealth and the constant comparison of our social media feeds is a reminder of what we don’t have, which opens up our hearts to the lie that we are incomplete without that wealth,” he said. “This is the thorn that chokes out truth.”

“We’re surrounded by digital thorns,” he added. “What it looks like to live differently is this: we have to stop bringing our phones to every moment of our lives. When we bring our phones into potential moments of fruit, we’re just bringing thorns to a fruit party. Don’t bring thorns to a fruit party. Get into the daily practice of spending time apart from your phone.”

To help students through this distraction-free month, Liberty’s Office of Spiritual Development created a Digital Rest Guide. The 54-page booklet, distributed to students during Convocations, includes select Scripture readings, devotionals, and guided prompts for reflection and prayer. Additionally, the university purchased 300 Brick units, a digital wellness device that temporarily blocks social media access on smartphones. There is a Brick device on every residence hall for student use.

“Overall, it’s been really good so far,” said freshman exercise science student Micah Burkett, who is using the Brick device. “I can look for conversations with people, and I can look for the opportunity to just go and brighten somebody’s day instead of just sticking my head in a phone or just isolating myself in a sense from others, just because I have that crutch of social media.”

To participate in the Digital Rest, students are encouraged to log out of all social media, identify and delete every nonessential application, and read one page of the Digital Rest Guide each weekday during February.

Only one week into the detox, several students are experiencing the emotional and mental benefits of the break.

“I see myself being more productive throughout the day, and when I have a task to do something, I’m focused way better, allowing me to do homework or any kind of work faster without having a phone in front of me,” said freshman sports management student Riley Nevin, who opted to delete most of his social media apps. “This has also allowed me to memorize a lot more as well. And to include with all of this, my motivation throughout the day has also gone up.”

Junior secondary English education student Colin Eppert, a resident assistant (RA) on Residential Commons IV, said he’s using Brick and taking the opportunity to socialize more without the burden of social media.

“There’s such a stress on the reliance on my phone,” he said. “If you’re looking for more focus, more connectivity, I think (the Brick device) is a really good tool to use.”

Rutledge said no other institution in America has done a digital detox at this scale. When it is over, Liberty will conduct a campuswide survey to determine how many participated and the overall benefit of such a large social detox experiment.

“I’m hoping that I become less reliant on electronics and focus more on building personable relationships instead of doing everything online,” said sophomore family and child development student Maya Conway, who also participated last year. “I hope a lot of people do the digital fast. It was a really good wake-up reminder to focus on the things that are important in life.”

Liberty alumnus Dr. Zach Clinton (’18, ’21, ’25), author of “Even If” and host of the Built Different podcast, visited campus on Friday to lead a workshop for the Human Flourishing, Resilience, and Well-Being Summit hosted by Liberty’s Global Center for Human Flourishing. He was also the speaker at Friday’s Convocation, where he commended students on doing the Digital Rest and emphasized the importance of removing distractions from life to pursue human flourishing while redirecting attention to things that matter, like healthier relationships and faithfulness.

“Loneliness is the silent epidemic of our day and age,” Clinton said, referencing Genesis 2:18. “A lot of the research is actually showing that loneliness has the same biological and physical effects on the body as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. We were not created to live our lives alone.”

“The flourishing life is not a life absent from suffering; the flourishing life is the connected life,” he added. “Don’t be digitally connected. Develop these embodied relationships during this Digital Rest, because I promise you, it will make all the difference in the world.”

Jordan Hardesty, a family and child development student with a minor in American Sign Language, said the Digital Rest is helping her acquire a “quieter mind.”

“I feel like I am definitely on my phone way too much, so I’ve been looking for ways to join a community that wants to take a break and refocus thoughts,” she said. “By March, I would like to continue to form that healthy relationship. … I’m also trying to read through a lot more Scripture than I usually do, so being able to completely turn my phone off … and read the Word of God without checking texts or Instagram would really help.”

For Liberty, the ultimate goal of the Digital Rest is to help students refocus their time, energy, and resources on the calling of Christ, to know Him deeper, and to pursue Him to their highest potential.

“I’m not anti-phone, and I’m not anti-social media,” Rutledge said. “These are tools that I still think have utility, and we can think about those things proactively. But you’d better have the discipline, or it will discipline you.”