When parents say, “it’s because of that phone,” I’m sure the idea of ignoring their “encouraging” words has crossed the minds of millions.
While scrolling through TikTok for hours on end and liking stories on Instagram brings on a fleeting feeling of content and pleasure, is there some truth in the idea that there is more harm in staring at a screen?
Leading research from several academic journals may side with parents on this fact. There have been several studies providing evidence that excess screen time can cause excessive feelings of mental fatigue, a loss of social skills, and other aspects of human health.
High schoolers are addicted to their phones and here’s why… Ironically they say the same thing drug abusers say: “I am not addicted” or “I can stop any time.” Merriam-Webster defines addiction as “a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effect and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence.”
In fact, this phenomenon has been considered a severe addiction in the DSM-5, the psychology field’s holy grail for mental illnesses and addictions.
These substances; however, usually entail what we would consider as drugs. Things made up of toxic chemicals that can kill. In this case, and to a lesser extreme, the “substance” are cell phones which have become more normalized in higher usage within the last five years.
A very common effect of consistent screen time usage is Nomophobia. Nomophobia is a phobia that is different from cell phone addiction because according to The National Library of Medicine, their study defines this phenomenon as “a fear of being detached from mobile phone connectivity.” This is not like an addiction to cell phones in the way that an addiction is not a fear, it is an uncontrollable urge to need something.
Similarly, Science Direct did a study which found that “there was a strong positive association between nomophobia and smartphone addiction”. This makes sense since almost everything in today’s society revolves around screens. It is only human nature that those who are not on their phones for a long period of time may feel they are missing out on face-to-face conversations.
Cell phones are leading people to lose interest in the in-person conversations they are having faster than before because they are losing nonverbal cues of attention and losing close, connected conversations.
The UConn Today article “Phubbing: Does Having A Phone Out Make Someone Feel Snubbed?” spoke with Ryan J. Allred, assistant professor of communication at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, about his research analyzing how nonverbal signals are “really disrupted by having a phone present to the point where having a phone is basically like having a clumsy third limb.”
We have shifted as a society to become so used to having their phones around that “we don’t judge other people when they do it.” However, when they turn their attention away from their conversation partner to their phones “it starts to hurt conversations” and is taken as rude.
Speaking of rude: while you may find that your parents are being rude when they tell you to put your phone away, listen to them. It may just save your life!
If you feel like this, try finding a hobby that doesn’t relate to electronics but provides the same amount of joy like reading a physical book or doing some puzzles. Another helpful tip is that at night charge your phone in a different room so you are not tempted to look at the screen in the middle of the night. Starting small is extremely important to make sure that the problem doesn’t get worse so take baby steps and slowly limit your daily screen time so that way you are in control of your efforts to end addiction.
