Much like Diablo Valley College’s iconic fountain, the social scene here seems awkward, out of place and unnecessary.

Between passing periods, students walk as if no one else exists. Passing each other, listening to their iPod’s, talking on their phones, and doing anything to distract themselves from the awkward silence of walking alone with hundreds of other people around.

When taking a walk around campus during class time, one sees students sitting alone, playing on their phones, absorbed by the screen in front of them. Whatever happened to people talking to one another?

Today, students meet new people using social media rather than meeting in person. Social media has created a wall where other people are incapable of hurting each other and gives a safe guard from potentially dangerous people. Is this why we’ve become afraid of social interaction? Because we feel safe behind our screens?

“DVC is just not a place to really meet people,” said 22-year-old business major McKenzie Meindersee. “The lack of a good social area really makes things divided.” Perhaps DVC’s social problem doesn’t stem from students being so absorbed by their phone.

It could just be the fact that the campus doesn’t have a good place for students to meet. But then what about the library, cafeteria, student center, forum and dozens of other places for students to gather? Why are these places so unsuccessful in bringing students together?

Chemistry major Michael Incerti, 20, said, “DVC is just a community college, and the construction really blocks a lot of the social scene.”

Could this be the case, that the construction on campus blocks all social interaction? Perhaps the sound of a dump truck backing up really does discourage talking all around campus.

What the problem may really be is it’s become too easy for students not to interact, instead look at their phones, and make excuses as to why their not talking to one another.

“We are so ashamed to talk to each other,” said 20-year-old business major Sean Yoon. “There is almost segregated groups on campus, and it’s created it so we are only talking to our phones.”

DVC students have made too many excuses as to why they have no social interaction. It’s easy to say that this school is just a commuter school, and that it’s just an insignificant in-between before going to a four-year school, but students are still here for at least two years of their lives.

It’s easy to shrug off DVC as just a simple step, where no interaction exists.

For once at this school we should all come together, forget about our phones and talk to one another. Let’s all make this campus our home, because we’re all here, right now, in this moment, on this campus.

So next time you’re sitting down on a bench starring mindlessly into your phone, look at who’s around. When you make that awkward eye contact with the person sitting right next to you, don’t ignore that person, please, talk to them.