Half Of Kids Worried They’re ‘Addicted’ To Phones
In a new survey, more than half the teens questioned are saying that they feel “addicted” to their mobile devices, but they’re not alone. Around 27 percent of parents admit to struggling to put the phone down as well.
Reported usage of phones is similar in both groups, with 69 percent of parents and 78 percent of teens checking their devices every hour. And parents aren’t setting a great example — most parents are even checking their devices while driving, with half the kids surveyed saying they’ve noticed.
“What we’ve discovered is that kids and parents feel addicted to their mobile devices,” said James Steyer, CEO of the group Common Sense who conducted the poll, in a statement as reported by the Boston Globe. “It is causing daily conflict in homes, and… families are concerned about the consequences.”
Half of teens and 27% of parents feel they're addicted to their mobile devices, poll says https://t.co/h4klA5J6Sc pic.twitter.com/L5kBudLdVA
— CNN (@CNN) May 3, 2016
The worries about phone use may be causing conflict, but the avenue of communication the smartphone opens up between parents and their kids is markedly improving their relationships. About a third of both groups reported that they were having daily conflicts over phone usage, but an overwhelming majority of both groups said that it had either no impact or had even helped their relationships, with 85 percent of parents and 89 percent of teens reporting this.
The need to respond immediately is strong in both groups, with half of parent respondents saying they can’t leave messages unanswered. CNN reports on business owner GG Benitez, a mother of three who says the pressure to immediately respond to messages is causing her anxiety.
“I had taken my son to a movie, and he turned around to me and said, ‘Are you serious, Mom? We are at the movies and you are still on your phone?'” Benitez told CNN.
Her business made it hard for her to “shut down” at a decent hour, and she recognized her reputation as a quick responder was holding her hostage to the phone, but she wasn’t able to put it down without feeling unease just yet.
“I have consciously made the decision to be more ‘present’ and will place the phone on silent and away from my vision, but not without the anxiety that I may be missing something important,” she added.
The survey, by San Francisco-based Common Sense Media, also found that most teenagers check their devices at … https://t.co/2MbSwz4fPh
— Obedient to Rule of Law? (@BaDruWIsE) May 3, 2016
The poll, conducted by a San Francisco-based nonprofit group called Common Sense Media, surveyed 1,240 teens and parents about their own and each other’s phone usage. Around the dinner table, 66 percent of families reported that they didn’t allow mobile devices. The more interesting statistic was who was more likely to break the rule, with both the parents and children equally likely to sneak a peek at the screen.
The phone is just an extension of modern #teen life: 50% addicted to #mobile phones https://t.co/HwqG0k8Ymr pic.twitter.com/cg7yCUyro9
— Engage Youth Co. (@engageyouthco) May 3, 2016
The friction of the fast pace of working out how to integrate new technology into family life is taxing some families, but the CEO of Common Sense believes most families are coping well. “A significant minority of families seems to be truly struggling to integrate mobile technology in a healthy way,” wrote James P. Steyer in the report, but he was also quick to warn of hyperbole and catastrophizing what is probably a normal evolution of family life. “The generational gap revealed in the different behaviors of teens and their parents raises the question of whether we may be too quick to label as ‘addiction’ something that is actually a normal adaptation to rapidly and constantly evolving social norms,” Time reports Steyer as saying.
[Image by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images]
