By Laila Hicks
Many teenagers all across the world use electronic devices. This is one of the main reasons for high screen times.
According to an article from Harmony Healthcare IT, titled “Phone Screen Time Addiction & Usage” it is stated that, “Americans spend an average of 5 hours and 16 minutes per day on their phones.”
After asking one of my friends Morgan Goodbar, the question “What’s your daily averaged screen time?” Her response was, “About 6 hours,” and having my daily average around 6 hours as well, it seems this statement is true.
Although having a phone, ipad, computer, etc. is nice and seems cool, what are some alternatives so our screen time is not as high?
1. Going on a walk. If you are feeling the need to grab your phone and start doom scrolling on it, knowing you will get distracted, try going for a walk to get your mind off of things.
Now you most likely don’t want to hear “Walking helps lose weight” or “Walking is even better than running.” But did you know that walking can help reduce breast cancer?
In an article, “5 Surprising Benefits of Walking” by Harvard Health, it is stated that, “An American Cancer Society study that zeroed in on walking found that women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week.”
Just taking a daily walk for one hour can add up to 7 hours a week, which is all you need to reduce breast cancer. Even if an hour of walking seems like a lot, it can help get your mind off of things, making time fly by.
2. The 20-20-20 rule. An article titled, “8 Tips to Reduce Screentime” by scripps.org, it is said that the 20-20-20 rule can help relax eye muscles.
Doing this can help bring you back to reality after staring at your phone for so long.
You might be wondering what this so-called rule is. The 20-20-20 rule is where every 20 minutes, you look at something 20 feet away, for 20 seconds.
Not only can this help with relaxing eye muscles, due to high screen times, it also is just a way to calm your body down and help reduce fatigue.
3. Not using any electronics an hour before you sleep. If you are on your phone right before you go to bed, it can be harder to fall asleep because the screen messes with your melatonin.
Turning off your devices an hour before bed is said to increase sleep duration, improve sleep quality, improve memory, reduce sleep latency, etc. overall making us not as tired, and helping us with the craving to grab our phones before bed.
All of these are very easy ways to take your eyes off of electronics, reducing screen time. Even if it feels like doing these activities would not fix the problem, if you continue to do these things and add them in your daily routine, your screen time can decrease significantly over time.
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