I need to reduce my screen time.
This is a common phrase said by almost everyone at some point.
The thing is, it’s not even an exaggeration; Americans check their phones about 205 times each day, the equivalent of once every 7 minutes in a whole day. However, considering the 8 hours we sleep for, the average person checks their phone every 4-5 minutes.
“My average screen time per day is around 5-6 hours,” said Olivia Sniezek a New Hartford High School student. “It varies on the weekends with my typical average being about 8-10 hours.”
Like many students, most of the time Olivia spends browsing Tiktok or Snapchat.
“I 100% wish I wasn’t glued to my phone all the time but I find myself getting easily distracted and off task,” Olivia said. “Scrolling is just too much fun.”
Olivia acknowledged how limiting herself can be difficult, especially because of how much phones have been woven into our everyday lives.
This isn’t unusual; in fact, the feeling is almost universal. Our phones are designed to keep us hooked: each new notification, scroll, or vibration triggers a release of dopamine that makes it harder to put the phone down.
What feels like the act of just checking your phone turns into hours of your day lost. And while many people know the amount of time they spend on their phone, it doesn’t translate to them being able to take control of it.
To put this into perspective, as a high school student you have on average over 60 years left of your life. If you are to spend 5-6 hours on your phone every day, this would equate to over 13 years worth of time spent on your phone in your life.
Many students have differing opinions on the role technology plays in the classroom. Siena Bradley, a senior, believes that “more technology should be used for educational purposes.”
Studies have shown that the use of technology has its pros and cons. For some the use of technology has resulted in greater student engagement and more opportunities for collaboration, creativity, as well as increased productivity.
Senior Zoe Mortensen wishes that there was, “less tech in the class.” This is due to her own reasons, like preferring to write on paper. However, studies show that technology in the classroom does have its downfalls.
The downfalls mainly being the decreased face-to-face interaction which can hinder students ability to communicate effectively. Increased distraction from games, ads, and articles. It can also pose problems with increased cheating. Since students have access to almost unlimited information, teachers need ways to ensure that each student’s work is their own and struggle to keep students on task and off of distracting websites.
While the use of our phones and electronic devices are built into our daily lives, there are ways for us to help decrease our screen time. A few tips professionals have to help lower screen time are to turn off notifications for any non essential apps, turn on grey-scale mode which can help to make your phone less appealing to stare at for long periods of time, and picking up a hobby that you’ll enjoy doing in your free time.
