By Michaela Gordoni
Recent research shows that American teens spend an average of 70 minutes on their phones while at school.
That time is “literally during the school day when children and adolescents should be in classes,” said Dr. Jason Nagata, lead author of the research and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.
And 70 minutes is just a fragment of teens’ eight and a half hours of daily screen time, CNN reported.
Nagata says it is “highly unlikely” that any of those 70 minutes are being used for apps or research related to school assignments. Other research confirms this.
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Pediatric Researcher Lauren Hale and other researchers at Stony Brook University released a similar study earlier this year. She said, “application usage data from this study suggest that most school-day smartphone use appears incongruous with that purpose. The analyses show high levels of social media use during school.”
Even though many schools have policies that restrict phone use, children and teens find ways to evade them.
Nagata says parents shouldn’t blame their children for using phones, as they are addictive devices by design. Instead, parents should help them resist them or give them dumb phones that only have call and text features, or even — gasp — no phone at all.
“These apps are designed to be addictive. They deprive students of the opportunity to be fully engaged in class and to hone their social skills with classmates and teachers,” said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, the paper’s senior author.
Nagata suggests kids leave phones at home or have them locked in pouches once they arrive at school, and if not, then they should keep them in “do not disturb.”
Parents can help by making phone rules with their teens together. Clinical psychologist Melissa Greenberg suggests families put their phones away for a few hours and have a conversation about it afterward.
Ask your kids, “Do you really feel like all that happens is that you miss it, or do you get to enjoy other things? Do you get to feel more present? Do you get to really focus on a conversation with someone? Do you feel some freedom from all those notifications?”
The way parents use their phones is “one of the biggest predictors of adolescent phone use, or screen use in general,” Nagata said.
So mom and dad, follow the same rules as much as you can and be aware and in the present, especially when you’re around your kids.
Read Next: Virginia Fights In-School Phone Use With Major Restrictions
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