Teenagers are known for their obsession with technology and the media. Nowadays, it is rare to find a teen who does not watch TV, play video games, listen to music, or have social media accounts. Just how much time are they spending on these things?

According to the report by Common Sense Media, an organization that provides help to families in order to improve safe technology and media use, teenagers in the United States spend roughly nine hours a day using media, not including the time they spend using it for school or homework.

Nine hours a day is more time than a typical teenager spends at school or sleeping! It is even more time than they put in with their parents and teachers.

If this is, on average, the amount of time teens spend consuming media, then they are often using it while doing their homework as well. Most of them either have a TV on, are texting, listening to music, or using social media as they finish their school work.

This can affect their studies as it may keep them from finishing their tasks. Junior Julia Sheehy said. “I get distracted and that kind of keeps me from doing my homework so therefore procrastination is something I’m very good at.”

However, some say these things are a need when it comes to working- that they cannot finish their work without any sort of noise on.

Another study shows that kids as young as 13 years old check social media 100 times a day. In essence, they are addicted to the connections they are able to get via social media.

These things go to show just how much teenagers live in a massive 24/7 digital world. For them, to be without a form of media is to be lost and that is scary.

The teenagers and tweens of today are wasting their lives away because of their excessive technology use. They are quickly losing the time they get to live life in the real world, doing activities they love, and with people they love. They instead choose to spend that time staring at a screen.

“If I use [technology] for entertainment purposes like Netflix or Instagram or Twitter then it takes up too much of my time and time flies but I don’t notice it.” Freshman Yabi Bereket said.

Using technology is a very helpful tool at times at times, but most teenagers are abusing their use with it.

Senior Akrem Ahmed said “Overall, it’s a good idea but there are negative effects.”

The problem is that they put their life online before the real people in front of them. They spend more time with media technology than any other thing in their life. It dominates them and every aspect of their lives.

To hang out with friends is sadly no longer a time to connect more with people and talk. Talking being one of the most powerful things a human holds- to have a voice and use it with others to become closer, is no longer used. It has become awkward and almost embarrassing to speak to one another.

Instead, to meet up with friends becomes a time for all of them to sit together on their phones. Any time spent doing anything has to include a picture being taken and posted online for others to see.

What is the point? Why not live in the moment with these people instead of spending any of those minutes thinking about what your next post should be?

Living and communicating through mobile devices is getting in the way of empathy. Texting is so much less empathetic than having a real conversation with someone in which they are looking eachother in the eyes. To just have a physical or verbal presence with someone has vanished.

This becomes a problem in society, human relationships, and how young people are growing socially and emotionally. Because of the distraction of technology, the simple task of living among people and interacting with them is being destroyed.

It is common to see even babies carrying their parents’ phones or any tablet in their hands. They will grow and continue to hold these devices because they will not know how to go without them anymore.

It is as if all this technology is becoming a part of humans- that without it they will become nothing.To avoid this frightening conclusion, all people, but most importantly teenagers who hold the most time exposed to media, need to make themselves used to going without technology.

If they can try to put down their phones and live outside the screen, they will find the things they miss when their eyes are looking down. They will realize they are wasting time that they could be putting to good use and being productive.

Teenagers need to understand that life is short and we do not have an infinite existence. Using their time on something like technology is a big waste and something they will look back at and regret. Stop living for the likes start living for you!