Distraction right at our fingertips
88 percent of teens have a smartphone
After finishing her work in Algebra C, Rose Casto checks her grades. In a life time, the average human will spend five years and four months on social media today.
“I’d say I probably find myself reaching for my phone 5-7 times a day,” junior Kelsey Andrews said. “I’m on my phone about an hour to an hour and half a day.” Andrews exemplifies what teens should aim for.
Research from Common Sense Media indicates, “Teens usually spend nine hours a day on their phones.” That time interferes with things that need to be done.
Teens think they can do a bunch of things at once. However, a study by Common Sense Media found, “About 50 percent of students would try multitasking homework and social media, but it’s shown that you really can’t and it’s causing problems.” That’s time that can be spent doing work or hanging out with family and friends.
Yet, “Technology is something we’re growing up with; its addictive,” sophomore Rose Casto said. “I’m on my phone throughout the day. From the time I’m up, I’d say I’m on it roughly for 10 hours altogether.” That could be because it’s something we have, right there, just a reach away. Most teachers like Pam Gower and Steve Allison have the policy of having no phones in the classroom or no phones out during teaching.
Pew Research Center asked 734 teens in the U.S. if they spend too much time on on their phones and 54 percent of them say they do. Some can find it hard to admit that they spend more time than they should on phones.
“During after school hours, I always have my phone on me, and usually don’t go more than 30 minutes without checking it,” junior Adam Knight said. The average time spent on a smartphone is 3 hours and 10 minutes per day in a sample poll of Stockbridge students.
Since the 2018 school year started, 25 high schoolers have been sent to RTR or to a principal because of their phones, according to assistant principal Kunzelman. Gower said, “I have taken away three phones and ask students to put phones away maybe once per week.”
Some teens might need to have rules set in their private lives as well. “Personally, it’s not a distraction in school, but at home it occasionally is,” Knight said.
It can be hard to not look at what other people are doing or to look at a text from a friend in class. Parents also sometimes call or text their children while they’re in class and vice versa which is taking away from a students learning and work time.
“It’s a distraction because students feel obligated to communicate through social media and texting with friends and family,” Gower said.
