College students’ screen times skyrocket
While advised to stay at home and practice social distancing there is an emerging pattern of concerningly high amounts of screen-time.
As work, schools, shops, and whole cities close down thousands of people are left with nothing to do. Options for entertainment are limited. Naturally our generation turns to electronics.
“I’ve mostly been on my phone and watching TV,” said Corinne Mccarthy. “There is nothing else to do.”
After checking screen-time usage on his iPhone, senior Chris Gibbons said he averaged 9 hours. He said he usually only spends 3 hours on his phone on a normal day. Other students said the same.
“I spent 7 hours on my phone yesterday while watching Netflix and doing my online classes,” said sophomore Ashaki Gallimore.
Professor Phylis Zzravy said “people are worried about an outage occurring, and they wonder what they would do in that circumstance. Online communication is vital during this time. The ways in which we think about communicating will be affected by our usage during the COVID-19 period, both by being placed in positions of having to use it more (such as for online courses), and by realizing at the same time the benefits of face-to-face communication.”
Streaming services like Netflix have benefited from the stay at home policy. It has shown a 33% increase in downloads in Hong Kong, 100% in Italy, and 50% in Spain, according to Deutsche Welle, an international broadcaster.
Along with universally high screen-times there is a correlation with low spirits. “I miss my friends, working out, and my season was cut. This virus ruined a lot,” said sophomore Kaitlyn Daily.
On social media students have been posting a lot about the quarantine. Most posts are challenges nominating other students, recommendations for shows to watch, and talking about their sleep schedules being off.
The blue light emitted from phone screens simulate morning light, causing your brain to think it is time to get up. Sophomore Micheal Conners posted to her account saying she stays up till 4 a.m. and wakes up around noon. “I would get up if I actually had a reason to but there is not much to do. I spend my day staring at a screen and sitting around so by the time I’d normally go to bed I’m just not tired.”
