Overuse Of Smartphones

“Mobile devices have become our alarm clocks and newspapers and, via platforms like Facebook and Instagram, portals to our social lives. With smartphones inhabiting the pockets of roughly three quarters of all Americans and tablets borne by half, a pale blue glow silhouettes modern life” (Chen 2). There is no doubt that smartphones have become a major part of modern life. They do many great things, including connecting people all over the world and allowing them to communicate with one another. However, as great as they seem, smartphones are not as harmless as people may think. Overuse of social media and smartphones can lead to many problems, and there is a large amount of research linking smartphones and social media to mental illnesses such

People who use smartphones and social media for long periods of time are more likely to have issues regarding mental health. Research and studies have linked overuse of smartphones with symptoms of mental health problems. As written in Addiction and Health, “A various studies carried out by Zulkefly and Baharudin, Ha et al. and Koo and Park have shown that excessive and addicting use of cell phone is related to depression symptoms, more interpersonal anxiety, poor self-control, low self sufficiency, and self-esteem” (Ghasempour and Mansour 193). The mental health of teenagers has been slowly deteriorating over time since smartphones and social media have become popular. There is lots of evidence that an extensive amount of time spent on these things are causing mental and emotional problems amongst teens, and yet kids still seem to love social media. This is because when teens post things that make themselves look good, it makes them feel better about themselves. But when they see posts of their friends hanging out and having fun without them, while they are sitting alone on their phones, it makes them feel unwanted and left out. When teens do get together, they will often post about it on social media to show how much fun they are. According to Jean Twenge, “For all their power to link kids day and night, social media also exacerbate the age old teen concern about being

The most important thing we can do is be aware of the negative effects of excessive smartphone use. Audie Cornish advises, “The first [solution] is just awareness that spending a lot of time on the phone is not harmless and that if you’re spending a lot of time on the phone, then it may take away from activities that might be more beneficial for psychological well-being, like spending time with people in person” (2). Parents should be aware of the amount of time their children are spending on their phones. If their kids are spending too much time on their phones, they should talk to them about it and set limits. As written in The Atlantic, “There are benefits to be gained even if all we instill in our children is the importance of moderation. Significant effects on both mental health and sleep time appear after two or more hours a day on electronic devices... Some mild boundary-setting could keep kids from falling into harmful habits” (Twenge, 15). Teaching the importance of moderation at a young age would help kids manage their time and keep them from the harmful effects of smartphones. If parents limit the time allowed on their kid’s phone right away, they can start good habits so that when the child is older, limitations could be removed and the teen could be responsible for