University president says students' smartphone obsessions play a role in campus violence, protests

University of Florida president Ben Sasse has stated that he believes recent protests on college campuses can be attributed in part to the increasing prevalence of smartphones and other technologies that tend to impede face-to-face conversations.

Sasse claimed during an event hosted by the National Governors Association that smartphones’ increasing influence “takes your consciousness beyond the time and place where you’re breaking bread around the table with someone” and “drives us toward tribalism,” reducing open dialogue and meaningful human interaction.

“Just think about the protests on campus in the last few months; there are things about them that are completely different than the protests of the 1960s, where you were really trying to persuade other people,” Sasse said during a conversation with Utah governor Spencer Cox. 

“Most of these protests right now are not trying to persuade other people, they’re trying to signal to the closest kid around you that you’re purer and deeper in your commitment to the cause, and that’s really different than a big broad American idea where persuasion is more important than violence,” Sasse added.

[RELATED: UF Jewish community members found hope after Hamas attacks, despite rising anti-Semitism]

Sasse went on to argue that the traditionally American perspective on free speech and open dialogue is key to resolving conflict.

“Americans have this unbelievable idea that you have to actually compete and persuade, and you do it with love and argument and innovation,” he said. “You don’t do it with compulsion, and power, and shout down.”

Under Sasse’s administration, the University of Florida took a hardline stance against anti-Israel demonstrations since October 7, going so far as to punish violent protesters with suspension, and banishment from campus.

“We just don’t negotiate with people who scream the loudest,” Sasse said during an interview with CNN.

[ANALYSIS: University of Florida stands firm against anti-Semitism, suspends anti-Israel protesters]

During his conversation with Cox, Sasse stressed his views on educational reform and the need for an educational philosophy that rejects a one-size-fits-all model.

“The education reform that’s needed in the next decade is probably the most pressing set of issues facing the nation,” Sasse stated. “In the K-12 space, we have inherited a kind of factory model of schooling that fit industrialization; it doesn’t fit the post-industrial age.”

Campus Reform has reached out to Ben Sasse, governor Cox, the University of Florida, and the National Governors Association for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.