Cell phones have been a huge part of our generation, but the lasting negative effects are already in motion. Students are stressed out when it comes to academics and activities. However, one never considers the amount of time wasted on screens. My friend once asked me to take care of her streaks on Snapchat. During that time I was on my phone a lot more, kept getting notifications, and started to get annoyed with the constant snapping back, which took at least two minutes every time. Compared to her, I realized I was not on my phone nearly as much as my peers.
Although I’m not into social media as much as others, I use TikTok and Snapchat primarily because it’s short and fun to watch, and I can engage with my friends. All of this leads me to two conclusions. One, we waste a lot of precious time on our devices, and two, our attention spans are shortening by the day.
We complain we are busier than ever, never having time to finish homework, study for tests, or even get a part-time job, but one only needs to look as far as their screentime stats that all phones track. Take me, for example. I average 2 hours and 40 minutes per day, which is relatively low compared to many of my peers. However, when you see this number, it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but look at it through a wider lens. With my daily average, that comes out to 18 hours and 40 minutes per week. If you consider a month, that comes out to 82 hours and 40 minutes (or about 3.5 days). In one year, that’s 41 days wasted. How depressing.
How could this time be better spent? How about with your family, studying, or doing homework? We stress out about finishing our homework or studying for a test, but if you spend 50% less time on your phone, you will magically have a lot of time back. Personally, I would like to spend more time with my family.
Cell phones also make it harder to sustain attention for longer periods largely because of the nature of these apps. Some teachers are starting to realize this and have to modify their lessons to match the short attention span of their students. Business teacher Reid Lende said if he shows videos that are longer than 10 minutes, his class begins to lose focus.
In addition, our phones are hindering our social skills. Instead of family or friends socializing at a restaurant, people are glued to their phones instead of interacting with one another.