The Truth Behind the Screen

It was the year 2014, my fourth grade year, when my teacher sat us down and told us to write a letter to our future selves.

“Letter- a written, typed, or printed communication, especially one sent in an envelope by mail or messenger.”

That was the last time I sent out a handwritten note.

Now I want you to stop and think about when you last took the time to write on a piece of paper and send it out. For most of us it’s been awhile. What’s the reason?

Cell phones.

The cell phone allows for fast, long distance communication, social media intake, and researching. While these are great and seem like a major advantage, the cell phone has many down sides we don’t often address.

Cell phones are like snakes, putting up a fascinating front, but potentially doing damage behind the scenes. They take up our time, impact our emotional and physical health, and can affect our future without us even noticing.

The American Heart Association says the most time teens should be on their phones is two or three hours a day. I recently took the time to collect screen time numbers from six teens my age. They were jaw dropping. “Ten hours,” “seven and a half hours,” “eight and a half hours,” “four hours,” “five hours and forty minutes, ” and lastly “six hours and fifty minutes.” If those are the numbers I got from only six of my fellow classmates, imagine the whole school? If there are only 24 hours in a day, where is that time coming from?

The answer is simple: It comes from our study time, our sleeping time, or even our family time. “I think phones are terrible because people stay on them most of the time instead of going out and spending time with family and friends,” said FCHS junior. Aurora Dean. “Cell phones are used a lot” said junior. Graham Austin.

Our physical and emotional health is put at risk every time we pick up that device. Did you know that using your cell phone for many hours a day increases your chances of cancer? The World Health Organization says that cell phones increase the risk of brain cancer “from long term or heavy usages.” I would say from the numbers I listed above that teens are partaking in “heavy usages” everyday and don’t even know what it could be doing to their bodies.

There’s more. “Scientists have reported adverse health effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns,” said Qassim University professor Zahid Naeem. When it comes to your sleep schedule, sleep is extremely important, especially as a teen. Without it you are left vulnerable to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, heart failure or even a stroke. Lack of sleep can also affect your focus. I’ve seen first-hand the effects of no sleep on kids at school as they slump there with bags under their eyes, or sleep in class and miss completing assignments or understanding the material being taught.

On the emotional side of things, many of us have social media on our phones. “I think social media has a negative impact on society because it forces people to compare each other and look for flaws in themselves.” Said, senior Tyler Ferguson. The CDC says “Sucide is only the second leading death among college students” and the third leading cause for ages 15-24. According to a 2019 study in JAMA Psychiatry, “Teens in the U.S. who spend more than three hours a day on social media may be at a heightened risk for mental health issues.”

In addition, when teens engage in social media or simple text messages they are exposed to cyberbullying, beauty standards, and peer pressure. Thirty seven percent of teens have been bullied online at least once, while 95 percent of “teens are online and the vast majority access the internet on their mobile device, making it the most common medium for cyber bullying.” said,Patchin, Ph.D, Justin.
Did you know girls are three times as likely to commit sucide? If we dive into beauty standards we see the physical impact that social media and the internet promotes. Nineteen percent of people in the United States alone have an eating disorder. For anorexia ten present of those people will die from the lack of nutrients. Forty present of models have an eating disorder due to the harsh requirements to meet beauty standandards.”Proven by, The National Eating Order Association. “I think social media can be very harmful to how people view themselves. Through filters and false realities we set ourselves up to an unachievable standard that is harmful to our mental and emotional health.”Said, ninth grader Samatha Carter.

Many people online also fall into the trap of peer pressure (the influence from members of one’s peer group). Whether it is jumping onto the latest fashion trends, or doing some online challenge, peer pressure can lead to some stupid choices. Remember back in 2018 when teens decided it was “cool“ to eat Tide pods? The joke blew up on social platforms and ten people died. I know ten does not seem like much, but imagine if that was ten of your closet friends? Ten lives were taken, all because people thought it was funny to ingest chemicals and even encouraged others around them to participate.

Spending too much time on a cell phone affects your future in ways you don’t see right off the bat. Physically, it harms your health–cancer, lack of sleep, and more. But another way cell phones harm you is hurting what lies ahead of you.

Let’s go back to the first thing I mentioned: your time. Most evenings I get on my phone, whether it’s on Facetime or scrolling through Instagram, and when I look up, three hours have passed. Take into consideration that I do this when I get home from school. Now you might not see that as a bad thing…until we get into the details.

One evening like this, I had an essay to write due the next day, a quiz to take, and a test to study for. Would you say spending three lost hours on my phone was a bad thing? I would. Now let’s step back and look at what I missed and how it might affect my grade. What happens when I’m a senior and I bomb my class because I spent too much time on my phone? That does not sound like an excuse colleges care about. They look at your grades, and even if you have the intelligence to make it into that college, your grades are what it comes down to.

Now let’s zoom back into something more immediate. So in my original scenario, I’m failing English, but I am playing volleyball. Do you think they’re going to let me play? No matter how good you are, the policy says grades are top priority. So now I’m going to miss out on a sport because I was too busy on my phone to focus on my school.

So here’s the bottom line: In the words of sophomore Rai Booker, “Cell phones are sometimes distracting. They keep you from focusing on school.” If I’m not careful, my whole future can come crumbling down with the swipe of my finger. I’m not sure about you, but that seems pretty harsh. Still, it’s reality.