By: Andy Chen
Picture this: a teenager rolls her eyes as her mom tells her to get off her phone; she’s heard the “back in my day…” speech almost daily. She never even considers the seemingly impossible: mother knows best, and this constant use of screen time is unhealthy.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a limit of 2 hours of screen time a day is healthy regarding children and teens. In comparison, according to the Washington Post, teenagers spend almost 7.5 hours on screen media every day — not including time spent on homework or classwork.
This disparity between how much screen time students should receive and are receiving can lead to a variety of negative health effects, including vision impairment, increased risk of disease like heart disease and diabetes, as well as sleep disturbances (especially if you’re exposed to your phone’s blue light right before you sleep). As such, students should seek to minimize their screen time as much as possible.
This definitely isn’t an easy feat, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping you inside all day. Even so, try to get out of the house at least once a day; hiking, jogging, and even playing with your pet (if you have one) are all great ways to lessen screen time as well as get in some exercise.
In general, just remember: everything in moderation.
