Teenagers spend an average of 1.5 hours glued to their mobile screens during school hours, spending what should be focused study time on social media, messaging, and streaming.
Lost in Phones
The new study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, has found that a significant number of U.S. teenagers enrolled in grades 7 through 12 use their smartphones for at least an hour every school day, with many of their online activities incongruous with the more acceptable purpose of using the devices for communication and learning, according to researchers.
To conduct this study, researchers collaborated with the survey research firm Ipsos, which recruited a national sample of participants meeting specific criteria: U.S. residency, ages 13 to 18 years, English-speaking, and being the primary user or owner of a smartphone. A total of 117 participants were recruited for the study.
The study used a smartphone application called RealityMeter to objectively track cellphone usage among the participants. The findings showed that adolescents spent an average of 1.5 hours on their smartphones during school hours, accounting for approximately 27 percent of their total daily phone usage. Also, 25 percent of participants spent more than two hours on their phones while at school.
“As a parent of two middle schoolers, my concern is that students are missing out on learning and social opportunities during the day,” Lauren Hale of Stony Brook University, senior author of the study, told The Epoch Times. “In my opinion, school should be a place for listening, asking questions, reading, writing, and engaging with peers in real life. Smartphones during the school day are a distraction from those types of activities.” […]
— Read More: www.theepochtimes.com
