Picture this: you’re doing something you love, for 40 hours a week.

It excites you, you think about it all the time – when you’re doing anything else, you can’t wait to get back to it.

It’s what you look forward to.

But…your family is worried about you.

They warn you that what you’re doing is ruining your mental health and social relationships – but you don’t see it that way. Can you guess what this thing is?

If you guessed interacting with screens, you’d be absolutely correct.

Technology is so deeply embedded in our society’s culture that we consider it a very normal, even essential, part of our lives.

Current arguments about various tech-related issues, such as the social and emotional problems it causes, won’t change the fact that the technology we depend on is not going anywhere. It’s here to stay.

While every age group interacts with technology in different ways, my generation, “Gen Z,” is undoubtedly the most chronically online generation.

The Internet is our main form of media consumption and communication.

We use it to keep up with trends, slang, world events, and much more.

According to recent data, the average teen spends over 6 and a half hours on screens every day.

This only includes social media, texting, and games – it doesn’t even cover the several hours we spend on our computers in school completing assignments.

I spoke with several Northwestern Lehigh High School students, who are enrolled in various grade levels, to reveal their average daily screen time across a week.

The first student I spoke to said that his daily screen time average was around 4 hours.

He doesn’t consciously try to limit his screen time, but tries not to be on his phone constantly.

Another student told me that she uses her phone for over 5 and a half hours a day.

She says this is on the higher side for her, as she’s watched some TV shows on her phone this week.

She tries to moderate her screen time when she can.

The last student I interviewed told me that she spends 8 hours and 13 minutes on her phone every day, showing me her settings App.

She reports that much of this is spent on YouTube and Spotify listening to music.

She said that she knows she should limit her screen time, but she isn’t willing to part with her TikTok videos.

After these interviews, we can gather that the students of NWLHS are trying to balance the time they spent on screens, but not necessarily succeeding.

And this is a good effort, since it’s a known fact that excessive social media and Internet consumption is damaging to teens’ mental and socialwell-beingg.

While we all enjoy the occasional “doomscrolling” session on social media, we must keep in mind that we control our interactions with technology – its damage depends on how much we use it.

It is a tool we can use for many good things, like staying in touch with friends and family, and to learn new things.

But we can’t allow it to control u – we can take back our power by applying mindfulness when we feel the itch to reach for our phones.

We can’t let our time be sucked away into a 40-hour work week when we’re not getting paid a dime.