The other day I got a notification on my cellphone, “Your weekly screen time report is ready.” Usually I wouldn’t look at it, but this time I just happened to. EIGHT HOURS, I was extremely shocked, I couldn’t believe that I really spend that much time on my phone.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that we as students, seem to spend much more time on our phones. I asked a few of my friends and heard more of the same, “I feel like quarantine caused it, before quarantine I swear, I never spent that much time on my phone.” said senior, Gurshaan Singh. Singh also went on to say, “I wouldn’t say I’m addicted, but it just feels normal to be on it.”

I wanted to find another perspective, most young people will have the same opinion about their phone usage, I wanted to see how a local teacher felt about the phone usage. “I’m guilty of it too, we are all so distracted,” said Esmerelda Munoz. Munoz went on to say “We are addicts. I don’t believe there is any hope for humanity.”

Phone usage as high as it is, could be a good thing though. “I use it to help me with homework and to study and stuff,” said senior Taryn Shaw. I personally also use my phone to help me study and watch helpful videos to help me with homework and test materials.

Are phones overused? Underused? That’s for you to decide, just be mindful.