It’s rare to find a high school student without a phone or social media, and the platforms they scroll are designed to keep them there. Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube all use algorithmic feeds, autoplay features and social feedback loops such as likes and comments to hold users’ attention as long as possible. A 2024 Pew Research Study found 95% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 have access to a smartphone. As of 2022, nearly two out of three teenagers report using social media daily,
The consequences of addictive social media designs are now playing out in courtrooms. Australia has restricted social media access for minors, and lawsuits against major platforms are multiplying in the United States. In a recent Los Angeles court case, Kaylee, or KGM, argued that using Instagram and Meta in her adolescent years worsened her depression and suicidal thoughts. In March, Meta and Google were found liable.
CHS students are no exception to the pattern of high screen time hours and social media addiction amongst teenagers. Three students shared about what growing up with a smartphone has meant for them.
Bug Denomme
Senior Bug Denomme spends five to six hours per day on their phone, roughly half of which entails scrolling through Pinterest and Instagram. Putting down their phone feels difficult because it’s ingrained in their everyday life.
“There was a period last year where my phone was broken, and it was getting fixed, and it made me realize how much I rely on it,” Denomme said. “I needed to use my friend’s phone to text my family members, to text my friends, to do pretty much anything. It did make me aware of just how much everyone else was on their phones, too.”
That awareness hasn’t made it easy to cut back on screentime. Denomme sees phones everywhere: at lunch, in class, hanging out with friends and even backstage during CET
(Community Ensemble Theater). They place some of the blame on companies that profit from the habit.
“I think it’s kind of pure evil,” Denomme said. “During CET backstage, we’re not allowed to have our phones, and for a lot of people, that is their biggest challenge of the week. We’ve lost the ability to sit and do nothing, and doing nothing is an important skill.”
The pull doesn’t disappear in social settings, either. Sometimes, someone in Denomme’s friend group will act as the “designated phone holder” when devices start getting in the way. But when nothing is happening, everyone defaults to screens.
“If no one wants to talk at lunch, everyone will just be on their phone doing their own thing,” Denomme said. “When I’m at one of my friends’ houses, we just sit in her room separately, scrolling, and then I will send her one of the videos I’ve watched. I’ve literally texted someone who I’m right next to. There’s definitely a disconnect.”
They want to cut back on screen time, phone checks and scrolling social media before bed, but one notification pulls them back in.
“I use my phone far more than I should,” Denomme said. “I am consistently checking it, even though I have a watch, I don’t need to check the time. It’s just a habit to pick it up and look at it, to press the buttons to hear the fun sounds, so I would say I’m absolutely addicted.”
Hayden Rice
Senior Hayden Rice has been using technology nearly his whole life, starting with YouTube and Angry Birds, but things changed when he got his own phone in sixth grade. He stopped being able to pay attention in school. Now, algorithms and the pull to stay connected compete with everything else.
He spends an average of 13 hours on his phone, splitting the time between Paramount Plus, YouTube, TikTok, Spotify and Discord. He spends hours talking and texting with friends. The online world, he says, offers something that real life sometimes can not.
“You can really stray away from reality when you’re so involved with technology,” Rice said. “There are people that don’t like how their current life is going, so they find solitude, and they get joy from the online world.”
He still has a social life outside of screens, but the digital version feels easier and more convenient. Even so, he knows the pull has costs.
“I don’t want my phone to be my whole life,” Rice said. “I think the only time I’ve been off my phone is when I’m grounded.”
Texting is fast and efficient. Even if Rice doesn’t always prefer it to in-person conversations, it’s how his friends communicate. He feels a constant pull towards his pocket, needing to respond before the moment passes. He can’t imagine life any other way.
“If I was back in the 1980s or whatever, where they didn’t have this, I don’t know what I’d be doing,” Rice said. “Not being able to send a message, I’d have to physically die, or mail things. I don’t think I would be able to do it.”
Edin Colson
Freshman Edin Colson knows what the difference between unlimited screentime and two and a half hours a day feels like. With divorced parents, the rules change depending on where they are.
Colson isn’t satisfied with how much time they spend on their phone when those limits aren’t in place. They’ve been making efforts to replace screentime with reading, crocheting, fiber arts and calligraphy. They also hand their phone over to their brother when Clash Royale, Instagram and texting are distracting them from schoolwork. Sometimes the phone gets taken away as a punishment. Either way, going without it is hard.
“It’s kind of ingrained in everything,” Colson said. “I can check my grades, I can do all my school work, I can do basically anything from my phone. I could read books. I don’t even have to read physical books anymore. I can just do it online. It’s really hard when we have everything on our phones.”
Colson has had a phone since the summer after fifth grade, when they were home watching their brother while their parents were at work. It was essential, but it did come with endless YouTube videos. They started using Instagram last year, and it has become even more addictive. The games and scrolling add up, and Colson has noticed that the instant gratification isn’t worth it.
“I feel like we could cut down on some of the for you-ness and how it just sucks you in,” Colson said. “Everything is toggled exactly to what you would watch. Overall, it does rely some on the individual too, whether it’s with a therapist or on their own or with a friend, to realize that social media can be negative to mental health and cut down. So I think it’s on both parties.”
Handing their phone to their brother is one strategy to cut back on social media usage. Mindfulness is another goal, though harder to practice.
“Oftentimes I’m continuously losing on Clash Royale, as I do, or just kind of mindlessly scrolling,” Colson said. “I kind of leave feeling neutral to not great. I want to work on mindfulness. I’d like to think I’d be more present in the moment, but who knows if I’d just dig my nose into a book, like I did before I had a phone.”
The Los Angeles trial will eventually reach a verdict, and legislators will keep debating age limits and restrictions.
As teenagers transition into adulthood, one of the less-discussed challenges they face is managing their own screen time. For much of their lives, limits have been set by parents and schools. There are no parental controls on a college dorm laptop, likely no teachers collecting phones before class and no household rule about screens after 10 p.m. Becoming a legal adult is, in many ways, a test of whether following the rules turns into good personal habits.
