Ever since the pandemic surfaced, people have made a rapid shift to the cell phone. It’s no hidden secret that teens have a complex relationship with the digital space. Teenage classrooms have been shifted to the digital realm, thus they are expected to use technology both inside and outside the classroom. Cell phones are now a vital part of teenage life. From sharing class notes on WhatsApp to using school-related apps and websites to keeping up with friends on Snapchat, teens today can’t seem to get a break from their devices.
But sometimes, the cell phones that entered lives as a necessity become an addiction. That’s where harmful teenage cell phone addiction symptoms come in. There’s no doubt that for teen girls and boys, using a cell phone is tied to recreational activity. It can also help them relieve stress. But, other times they use their phones to keep up with their busy lives. In this case, ensuring that the technology doesn’t result in more stress isn’t an easy task. So, what are the top reasons that you need to look for in order to make your teenage girls take a break from cell phones?
Believe it or not, there’s no clear-cut way to delete stressful technology activity. In this blog, we’ll navigate ten reasons that are alarming and leads to a stressful world of tech.
However, before jumping to conclusions, let’s figure out how much screen time is healthy for your teenage kids?
According to reports, teens spend an average of more than seven hours per day on screen media for entertainment. This time period is apart from their daily online classes. Whereas the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that children ages eight to 10 spend six hours per day in front of a screen (average). Kids ages 11 to 14 spend an average of nine hours in front of a screen per day. Whereas, people ages 15 to 18 roughly spend an average of seven-and-a-half or more hours per day in front of a screen. However, how much screen time is healthy for your kids is a question that comes underlying?
There’s no denying that social media is a huge part of modern-day schedules, and there can be many positives and upsides to it. But excessive screen time and social media can be a slippery slope for depression, loneliness, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended no more than two hours of screen time for teenagers. Still, due to the digital transition and technological integration into our daily lives, AAP has now updated its guidelines to reflect the realities of today’s digital world.
The AAP’s new recommendations acknowledge the fact of the integration of technology into our daily lives. Tech world is making it nearly impossible to police a strict two-hour per day limit on school-age children.
So, what’s the healthy screen-time balance then without?
Studies reveal that keep screen in front of the eyes for just 1 hour a day can lead to decreased mental health. But with the millennial era of digitalization, keeping the screen time down just seems ironic.
Thus, a healthy balance is one that keeps your teenagers away from all sorts of adverse effects on mental health, well-being. And reduces the psychological effects of cell phone addiction. After all, cell phones give teens a chance to look for resources on information and also helps them to connect to peers of the same mindset.
10 Reasons Teenage Girls Need To Take A Break From Their Cell Phone
It damages your eyes:
The eyes are capable of performing a wide variety of tasks. The human eye is thus considered an incredible organ of the human body. But unfortunately, excessive use of cell phones is drastically reducing the amount of focusing we do. Thus, cell phones have a drastic impact on the human eye. Many teenagers report itchy eyes, nearsightedness, or presbyopia in their early teen years due to excessive use of cell phones.
It can harm your body posture:
Using cell phones day and night can have an adverse effect on your body posture, especially the neck. The human head is a heavy object. The design of the human neck and spine is made to keep it up at a certain angle. When we stare at the mobile screens, we tilt our heads down; it increases the pressure we put on our cervical spine by as much as 60 pounds.
Cell phone can damage our Hands:
Like neck and eyes, cell phones can affect our hands too. Many teens have reported cramping and soreness after using cell phones. In those early teen years, when our body evolves, we keep our fingers on the phones. Keeping our fingers in a position necessary to keep our mobile steady while you tap and swipe can cause inflammation.
Cell phone make you Introvert:
Apart from physical reasons, many teenage cell phone addiction facts are also associated with the teen’s physiology. Various studies have shown that using social media and cell phones can make teens introvert. It can also adversely affect their real-life social circle.
Cell phone make you “Unlikable.”
As a teen, we are constantly under the influence of impressing people of social media. This ends up damaging real-life friendships. A study at the University of Essex revealed that merely a cell phone can make people have a negative impression. It can also put a teenage girl or boy in a bad light.
Cell Phone are bad for sleep:
Many teenage girls have this habit of using cell phones before going to sleep. They have a hard time putting down their cell phones before bed. Thus, keeping the screens close to your face can upset your sleep cycle. The blue light produced by these gadgets induces sleep and can disturb our sleep cycle.
Cell phone can cause a bacterial infection:
It goes without saying that cell phones carry bacterias like any other object we come into contact with. However, cell phones have extra dangers because we bring them into close proximity with our ears and mouth. Thus, this is yet another reason why teenage girls need to take a break from their cell phones.
Cell phone cause stress
Excessive use of cell phones can cause stress, especially for teens; high mobile phone usage triggers an increased level of depression in both teenage girls and boys. Thus, screen time should be controlled to reduce stress. Teenage cell phone addiction facts showed significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and impulsivity
Cell phone cause Impatience:
Cell phones and teenage depression come hand-in-hand. Both are closely connected to each other. Usually, when teenagers become so much engrossed in the virtual world, they tend to lose their patience. This further results in restlessness and teenage depression
Cell phone cause inablity to focus on studies:
One of the biggest reasons teenagers need to take a break from their cell phones is their inability to focus on their studies. Cell phone addiction is disastrous and can affect studies beyond anyone’s anticipation. When separated from their cell phones, teens become restless and tend to lose their focus on their studies.
How to stop child phone addiction?
If your teenage kid is spending too much time on cell phones, don’t lose hope. There are still ways by which the excessive use of both smartphones and social media can be controlled. There are many features and tools that can help fight tech addiction. All you have to do is identifying the teenage cell phone addiction symptoms.