There are 365 days in a year. A recent study has found that the amount of time that the average teen spends looking at his/her cell phone in a year adds up to 45 days (an average of 3 hours per day of cell phone viewing). That's 12% of each year looking at a cell phone. The majority of use is texting and browsing apps. If you take into consideration the fact that the average teenager gets 7 hours of sleep daily, that means 42% of a teen's year is spent sleeping and cell phone viewing!
A Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teens and parents has found that 60% of teens — those between the ages of 13 to 17 — say that spending too much time online is a "major" problem facing their age group, with about nine in 10 teens dubbing it a problem. More than half of teens (54%) say they spend too much time on their cellphones, and 41% say they overdo it on social media.
Based on survey results, 44% of teens say that they often check their phones for messages or notifications as soon as they wake up — and 28% say they check at least sometimes. Girls are more likely than boys to say they spend too much time on social media (47% vs. 35%) while boys are four times as likely to report spending too much time on video games (41% of boys vs. 11% of girls). The top emotion teens associated with not having access to their phones is anxiety (42%), with girls reporting more anxiety from phone deprivation than boys (49% to 35%).
About two-thirds of parents (65%) say they worry about their teen spending too much time in front of screens, and one-third say they worry a lot. More than half of parents (57%) say they put limits on their kids being online, or on their phones, with a quarter saying they often do this.
One very interesting part of the Pew Research Center survey is how kids feel about their parents’ use of technology. While 72% of parents say their teen is sometimes or often distracted by their phone while having real-life conversations, more than half of teens (51%) say the same about their parents! Clearly, parents need to be aware of the technological behavior they model to their children.
Some positive news from the survey is that many teens are trying to cut back on their phone use, with 52% of teens saying they are trying reduce mobile phone use, and 57% saying they are trying to limit their use of social media.
From Him, Through Him, For Him (Romans 11:36),
Paul J. Staso
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Visit my YouTube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/user/pacetrek
Click on any of the links below to see some of my adventure photos:
- United States in 2006 (3,260 miles solo in 108 days at age 41)
- Montana in 2008 (620 miles solo in 20 days at age 43)
- Alaska in 2009 (500 miles solo in 18 days at age 44)
- Germany in 2010 (500 miles solo in 21 days at age 45)
- The Mojave Desert in 2011 (506 miles solo in 17 days at age 46)
- Various Photos From Mileposts Gone By
- Students Worldwide Who Ran With Me Virtually
- Roadside Sights From My Running Adventures
- Some Cycling Moments From The Past
