It’s not uncommon to see people on their mobile devices every day. Let’s face the reality that today’s generation of young people are more active online than taking time to be outdoors or be more observant of their surroundings.
New research from Common Sense Media confirms that nearly half of young adults aged 11 to 17 receive about 237 phone notifications on any regular day. Some cases even record at least 5,000 appearing within a 24-hour duration.
These notifications primarily come from friends on various social media, with about a quarter of these alerts pinging during school hours and 5% occurring at night. The study analyzed 203 participants who agreed to install an app on their mobile devices for a period of nine days, so researchers could keep track of the data.
The said app mainly collected time-stamped information, such as what applications were running and how many notifications were being received by the participants. Most social media apps detected included TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Discord.
It might not come as a surprise, but 97% of the participants used their phones during school hours. However, the researchers did not particularly suggest that actions such as banning the usage of phones during class should be implemented.
While this is not entirely shocking, the students commented that they used their phones during school hours mainly to keep in touch with their parents and take a break from the tedious classes.
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Founder and CEO of Common Sense Media, Jim Steyer, observed that this phenomenon is a constant buzz that teens experience. In a sense, young adults wake up, and their first pick-up is their phones. He argues that this is a dominant factor in all of the teens’ personal lives.
The study also observed that many teens show control over their online activity and hours by activating the “Do Not Disturb” feature.
If parents or guardians are concerned about the possible addiction or obsession of the young with their phones, the study also suggested how to handle it.
First of all, the study suggests that parents should meet the young’s experiences and try to understand them. Kids are intimidated with the notion that their phones will be taken away, so parents have to make them aware that they are always there for their children to express their emotions and share various experiences.
Teens also observed that parents use the same apps as they do, so the study suggested using these observations to reflect and experiment on phone usage and how it affects mood, concentration, and sleep.
Finally, while there are always the go-to parental controls for limiting and monitoring the young one’s phone activities, this is not proven effective as it involves plenty of maintenance and hands-on monitoring.
Every young adult is different. Thus, they have various reasons for using social media and other phone apps. The researchers encourage parents to have open communication with their young ones to fully grasp what keeps them active on their mobile devices.