Screen Stress
Limiting screen time has more positives than negatives
Phones can cause complications between parents and children but is there a way to fix that. “ I think instead of parents limiting screen time they should teach their child how to responsibly manage their screen time because it gives their child more independence,” Sophomore Anthony Corcoran said.
Most teenagers love using Snapchat, Instagram, and Tiktok, but when parents restrict that it could be hard for them to let go.
Teenagers have to balance schoolwork, chores, jobs, sports, and more. When they get home after a long day, they just want to relax, and going on their phone is a good way to relieve stress. If a teenager gets too stressed, it could be hard for them to have the motivation and having no relaxation time could potentially bring their mood down.
Creating a creative and balanced schedule for teens can help them to not be addicted to their phones, according to Marina Umaschi Bers, a professor at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development,
Teenagers should be able to come up with a good screen time limit that works with their parents that works with their schedule and parents’ nagging. They can do this by simply talking to them and finding facts online that if they can negotiate a balanced screen time, then it may be easier for the teen and their parents to get along.
Some parents limit screen time for teens because they believe teens need to be more social and electronics are ‘rotting their brains, but that’s not the case. Teens can go on their phones for educational purposes such as watching math videos to better understand their math lesson or studying for their next test on Quizlet.
Forty-eight percent of U.S. internet users, between the ages of 15 and 25, use Snapchat, According to smartsocial.com. If teenagers use their phones to talk to their friends, there is no problem.
Teenagers should be allowed to have similar freedoms that adults have. The average American spends seven hours and 11 minutes looking at a screen every day, according to data from DataReportal. If parents are glued to their phones, then teens can pick up addictive behaviors from their parents. Therefore, parents limiting screen time is somewhat hypocritical.
Phones can be toxic at times because of strangers online and inappropriate content. If teenagers aren’t careful they could be talking to dangerous people online or they could face kidnapping, abuse, or jealousy. While this may be true, if parents can find a balanced and unrestrictive way to limit their teen’s screen time, then their teen could be happier and they could have a healthy relationship with their teen.
A way teenagers can stop their parents from being so restrictive is by negotiating and talking out a plan with them. If teens can find a way to be safe online and not let social media take over their life, then their parents may be more inclined to be less harsh about phone rules.
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