Teens Addicted to their Cell Phone

Drake Strassner

Students on their cell phones during class, sometimes lose focus on what really matters.

    Teens are so addicted to their cell phones, they lose focus on what is happening in the real world. For example, when students look down at their phone, they do not even know or remember what the person in front of them is wearing even though they saw them seconds before. This is not just in teens. We see this in adults too. Often they can be talking to someone on their cell phone and they can completely forget what you just asked him or her.
     The reason why cellphones are so addicting is because there are so many options. You can browse the internet, youtube, games, etc. It is almost like they are wired into our brains.
     Think of it. You use it on a daily basis. It is almost like you turn on the fan before you sleep or you brush your teeth in the morning and at night.
     It is like a habit. You get bored and you pull out your phone, because it gives you something to do. Everytime you hear it buzz, you want to check it. You want to see who texted you and what it is about. Teens make up so many excuses to check their phones. Teens don’t think they are that addicted, but yet they cannot leave it alone for a week. They have to send streaks on Snapchat, text their crush or anything possible to fill their dead time.
     Even when you plug it in at night, you keep it next to you and if it rings you check it. You check your phone in math class or science class, not to check the time or to change the song, but just to check it for the sake of checking. So, it just distracts you. When you get on it, you never just check Snapchat and get off. Every time you get on your phone, it is for at least five minutes. The thing is, it is not just happening for just that day; it is everyday end on end ever since you got your phone or played on your parents’ phone, you have been hooked.
     If this sounds like you, do not worry. It is not necessary. You can still have a life without checking your phone every five minutes. “I still check my phone, but I focus on more important things like having face to face conversations with other people and getting involved in activities that are not primarily digital,”  Noele Lehnhoff (’22) said. Instead of seeing what others are doing by checking Snapchat every five minutes, get involved.