What is the first thing that you do the second you wake up? Do you use the bathroom or drink some water? Well for most people, the first thing they do is check their phone or device screen. Now, what do you do before you fall asleep? Is it reading a book, eating a snack, or maybe you are preparing your outfit for the next day? Again, for most people, they’re still on their screens. From the moment you wake up, to the moment you fall asleep, you are on – if not thinking about – your screen and when you can get back on it again. On average, teenagers use roughly around 4 to 9 hours of screen time a day, which does not include any time spent on schoolwork. If you clicked to read this blog, that might mean you have a problem of excessively being on your device, or in other words you have a screen addiction.
You might be asking what does it mean to have a screen addiction? Screen addiction among teenagers means to have an extreme obsession with being on screens, which include social media, gaming, watching videos, or browsing the internet, and it interferes with everyday life. There has been growing evidence that obsessive screen use shares multiple characteristics with substance addiction. Just as with a regular addiction, addicted teens may feel lonely or disconnected with friends and loved ones, are moody, and might feel some anxiety when they can not get to their devices. There are also multiple health risks of having an excessive amount of screen time that are both physical and mental. Mentally, you may feel depression, anxiety, and other different mood disorders. According to the National Library of Medicine, a study found that teens who spend five hours or more per day on a device are 70% more likely to have suicidal thoughts or actions then someone with one hour of screen time. Physically, there are numerous different health hazards such as eye strain, neck and back pain, headaches, and blurred vision. Having a screen addiction can affect your overall wellbeing especially when it comes to your social relationship with the people in your life. This downside can limit interactional opportunities which can lead to loneliness and isolation. Too much screen time can limit our creativity, ability to problem solve, and even our attention span.
Don’t worry, you still have time to fix, or at least help, your problem. There are multiple different ways and reasons to get off a screen. Luckily for you, I have multiple different ways to balance screen time with life. For instance, you could try to do a digital detox. This means that you would be off any type of device for a whole day. When you start to get used to being off a screen, take it a step further and try going two days or three days offline, and for a real challenge try for a week!
Now we have another problem: how to keep yourself occupied during your digital detox days. The first thing you could do is move, you could go outside and take a walk, ride your bike, exercise, or play a new sport. Due to being stuck staring at a screen for hours and hours on end, your body probably hasn’t had a lot of movement, so doing something active is the perfect solution. Another thing you could do is start a new activity such as reading, writing, drawing, or even dancing. You could do something productive like clean your room or any other place in your house or community and make to-do lists for things that need to get done that day. You could even take this challenge a step further by setting screen time limits on your devices. These screen time limits would go off from a certain time and turn on at another. For example, you could set a limit that could go off from 10pm to 10am and it would turn off your apps so that you can’t use them in between that time.
Remember that not all screen time is bad, but too much of a good thing can be bad for you. You can use your phones, computers, etc. to connect with loved ones and to unwind and relax after a long day. It’s ok if you can’t get off of your screen immediately, of course it’s going to take some time. Just make sure to stay persistent and be confident in yourself because the benefits of reducing screen time outweigh the risks. Remember that this is a small sacrifice for a long term goal.
Elliana Torres – St. Laurence High School – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: Tomáš Hustoles – Shopify