Taking a screen time sabbatical
This month we're introducing the idea of a screen sabbatical, a pause from the dings and chimes and blue haze that fills our eyes most of our waking hours. I'll be the first to say that modern technology is amazing and has made so many aspects of our lives easier and more efficient. I'll also say that I make a point to put my phone down when I don't need it and take a look around, and what I have observed in increasingly alarming rates is the inability of most adults to put a phone down to perform everyday tasks like drive a car, carry on a conversation at a restaurant, wait in line at a store, walk down the street, sit at a park or playground, heck even watch a movie or tv show! This month we're going to cover the statistics of screen time use, the research on its effects, and learn how to take a screen time sabbatical to free your self from the constant ding, chimes, and scrolling.
From a scientific standpoint, we really don't know what constant screen time is doing to our brains, our bodies, and our ability to interact with each other. There is more and more research coming out that seems to indicate that screens are changing our brains and rewiring us at a cellular level. This week we're going to spend some time looking at what we do know so far about screen time.
Some of you guys will remember that screeching terrible sound that used to indicate that you were connecting to the internet, these days it’s hard to actually disconnect from it without unplugging your router. As I am typing this, my computer has already chimed 6 times alerting me to new emails in my inbox. The omnipresence of the internet and the screens that allow us to access it is hard to believe especially if you are old enough to remember when the internet did not exist!
Here are some recent research statistics that you might find interesting (most of this research was done before the pandemic, so you can imagine that the current numbers will be much higher!)
In 2019 the average American adult spends eleven hours a day interacting with media (this is not counting the time they use screens at work). Two of those eleven hours can be attributed to listing to music or radio while commuting, which leaves nine hours of screen time a day .
The average american spends 74 hours each week in front of a screen (that’s over 10 hours a day) with most Americans watching television while scrolling on mobile devices.
The average American checks his or her phone eighty times a day (millenials and gen zs check their phones over 150 times daily!)
By age eleven 52% of American kids have their own smartphone, by twelve 69% do.
The average teen spends 6 hours a day on his or her screen, in lower income households screen time increases to an average of 8.5 hours a day
In 2011 just 1 percent of kids under 8 had their own tablet, by the end of 2017, that figure was 42 percent.
Enough for now, but next week we'll discuss what makes screens so addictive.
