Phones have become an essential part of our daily lives. They can help us in school, connect us to our friends, and be a space where we can relax, however, sometimes it can be hard to tear ourselves away from the screen. There have been a variety of negative effects associated with spending too much time on phones, such as heightened anxiety levels and depression. To aid with this issue, Apple introduced a feature called Screen Time. It tracks weekly phone usage and the most often used apps, but this feature is only helpful if people actually use it. I interviewed students to see if they pay attention to Screen Time or chose to ignore it.
The results were relatively mixed. Some students, like Sophomore Kelli Crowley and Junior Caroline Botelho, actively used Screen Time and said that it helped them limit their phone usage. Kelli explained why she chose to check Screen Time.
“[I use it] so that I can monitor my usage and stay focused on schoolwork.”
While Screen Time can be helpful to some, others decided not to use it, like Freshman Emma Donavan and Juniors Danielle Geary and Payton Gardner. Their reasons varied, from an unwillingness to have their parents, find their screen time, to not prioritizing monitoring Screen Time, or not knowing it even existed.
But one common factor among almost all of the students interviewed, whether they used Screen Time or not, was that their most used apps, or the apps that they guessed they used the most, were in the Social Media category, which was either Snapchat or Instagram.
Whether you choose to use Screen Time or not, it can be a great resource to help you track your phone usage and be aware of how much you use it per day.