Maybe If You Weren’t On That Phone So Much

Student on their cellular device browsing the web.

Hallie Wolfe, Staffer

Student on their Kindle Fire browsing the Internet.
Cardinal Chronicle
Student on their Kindle Fire browsing the Internet.
Student trying to decide what to play on Play Station 4.
Cardinal Chronicle
Student trying to decide what to play on Play Station 4.
Student on their cellular device browsing the web.
Cardinal Chronicle
Student on their cellular device browsing the web.

The first thing I do in the morning is roll over, pick up my phone and look at my messages and social media. When scrolling through Instagram, I saw a picture talking about how kids are on their phones too much so I decided to look up how ,uch we really are on our phones. The average teen spends 7 hours and 22 minutes on their phone per day which is an insane amount of time. This made me curious to see what my friends screen time might be. I asked my friends Hayden Brown, Aaron Crumrine, Morgan Lucas, Angel Venszl and Kyla Wolfe who all attend Pine Grove Area High School. Brown’s screen time is 6 hours, Crumrine’s was 13 hours and 10 minutes, Lucas’s was 3 hours and 4 minutes, Venszl’s was 3 hours and 42 minutes and Wolfe’s was 4 hours. Crumrines was clearly the highest overall with a good 6 hours over the average. This lead me to ask the question, how much screen time is unhealthy, and is there any actual damage that can be done from this? 

 

“Kids’ use of technology is not the problem. The problem is our kids’ extreme overuse of entertainment technologies that is displacing the experiences that are fundamental to a strong mind and a happy, successful life.” says Richard Freed who is the author of a book called “Wired Child”. What he means by this quote is that technology takes away the kids want to actually be active and enjoy life’s experiences and opportunities it has to offer. Technology itself is not the problem, it’s how it can become addicting, and give the feeling that you need to use your phone. According to Westartnow.org, the average child spends up to 7 hours using their technology and only about 4-7 minutes outside. According to Blog.himama, children playing outside is crucial to their growth and development. It even increases their ability to jump, balance, run, skip and jump. About 80% of teens are on their phones while they should be sleeping. Not having enough sleep increases the risk of depression, anxiety and even low self-esteem. 

 

Putting down your phone for even an hour has benefits. According to Lifehack.org, some of the benefits are you will initiate small talk on a more consistent basis, you will become more observant, and you will relax and be in a good mood more often.