The Digital Detox movement which began in the United States 3 years ago in order to heal health problems caused by digital devices such as smartphones is spreading in domestic universities. Its purpose is to cure the chronic ills of modern society by studying humanities which is the university’s original function.

SKKU’s Library and Information Science Student Council is hosting the read-a-thon “Campus bound Sungkyun-in book picnic”. The difference with other events is that before reading, the participants turn in their smartphones and are thoroughly isolated from digital devices for 6 hours.

The read-a-thon began from the students’ ‘desire of digital breakaway.’ Earlier this month, the student council conducted a survey of approximately 50 students in order to grasp the tendency of reading. 70% of them confessed that it is difficult to read due to digital devices such as smartphones. More than half of the students preferred places with many books such as the library to concentrate on reading, but when failing to find an appropriate place, 72% (36 students) answered that they read in the café. The topics that they wanted to read were quite heavy, such as Karl Marx’s ‘Capital’, Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’, Ernst Gombrich’s ‘The Story of Art’ etc.

Hong Min-ki (26), the student president of Library and Information Science stated that “In reality, even bookworms stare at their smartphones every time they turn their pages. Reading with patience can help look back on digital addiction.” Despite being the first event, drastic increase of participants has created a lively atmosphere and thus, the student council is planning to hold the read-a-thon every quarter.