Technology Addiction, thoughts from Emma Liu

 Dragged In

The stream of new feeds looks endless as teens scroll through the latest hits, trends, and fashion for what seems to be five short minutes. An hour goes by and the phone is still on, fingers still excitedly browsing. Lately, phones and other forms of media have become increasingly common and advanced. Many teens struggle to keep themselves off their devices and the internet, and parents and schools have found the issue especially concerning.

As an eighth grader puts it, “with my phone in my pocket, I can’t focus on anything else. Without my phone, I feel lost. It’s almost as if all of a sudden I don’t know what to do anymore.” 

Each morning, as sunlight streaks across this student’s window, the flash of the phone screen turns on with a swift click. He groggily spends ten minutes checking his social platforms before lazily crawling out of bed and heading downstairs with half his attention on the staircase, half his attention on the short clip he watched. Throughout the rest of the day, his phone also remains in constant use, whether in class or at home. 

Though it may sound worrisome, this student is far from alone. Many teens also face the same problems as he does on a day-to-day basis. In fact, nine out of twelve students surveyed in middle school report that the first thing they do after they wake up is check their phones. As the day goes on, their devices are also always by their side, with each notification prompting them to eagerly check their phones.

Many have previously worried about children, especially teenagers, spending too much time on the internet and their devices, but the problem seems to have worsened after quarantine and remote learning. 

This September, students transferred from virtual learning to in-person education, which offered the chance for students to better socialize with others. However, teachers at multiple school facilities noted that though schools promoted socialization, most teen students would rather be on their phones than engage in conversation with others. 

In school cafeterias, with the pungent smell of grease and oil hanging heavily in the air, students cram into the lunchroom and hurriedly find an open seat. Rushing to tables and taking out their devices, limp pasta and cold pizzas are shoved into their mouths before they wordlessly slouch in their chairs and unlock their phones. With more and more students replacing conversation with screen time, the cafeteria quickly lingers on the edges of silence. During lunch, when students should be most free to chat amongst themselves, almost every teen has a phone in hand and is hunched over with their eyes glued to the screen. 

For most educators, these actions have been interpreted as teens being unable to remove themselves from their phones, which has been agreed with by ten out of the twelve teen students surveyed. 

“If my phone is nearby, I feel an urge to check it. It’s too tempting,” says one student in middle school. “My phone is always on my mind, which makes talking to friends and going through my daily schedule a struggle for me.”

 Today, technology is becoming more prominent and addicting as it continues to grow within our lives. An appealing video or a scan of social media could easily take away an hour or more of time, with online platforms working to drag viewers further and further in. Though turning off notifications and leaving devices out of reach when studying is helpful, there are many ways for us to approach this problem. What other things can teens do to keep themselves off their phones? In what ways can parents and other adults help manage phone use? How can parents work collaboratively with teens to stay device-free?