By Ava West
When does casual phone time become a dependency? And, when does dependency become an addiction? This is a hot topic for college students who report losing hours of their time to doom scrolling.
For 19-year-old Hermien Theron, of Grand Rapids, phone addiction is “if you can’t survive without it for longer than a couple hours.”
Another Grand Rapids native 19-year-old Keegan Nesbit defined phone addiction as “not being able to put your phone down” and feeling as if the phone is a “need” as opposed to a want.
He mainly uses his phone for social media and work, and shared that his relationship with social media is “50/50.”
More than ever, students are engaging with social media and different platforms. Eighteen-year-old Abbi Mazzola said, “(My relationship) is kinda good. I’ve definitely learned to not judge myself based on others.” Comparisons and insecurities are a common thing that may rise in teens and adults who have poor relationships with social media.
“There’s some information on there that could be harmful, and then it’s also very useful,” Nesbit said. “People use it every day to learn… but there are so many instances where there (is) a lot of hate.”
There’s also the issue of the amount of time one spends on their phone.
Austin Mansaray, 20, of Zealand, has an average screen time of around eight hours this week. Mansaray went on to detail how he believes that scrolling is a prevalent issue.
“Using your phone for hours on end with no real impact on your intelligence, like no real structure, just trying to engage your mind and exploit the process that go on in your mind to keep you engaged with an app or products,” he said.
Mansaray starts scrolling, “Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed by school I definitely use my phone as a way to just kind of numb the feeling of like stress or instead of, you know, combating my homework.“
While he thinks doom-scrolling is an issue, Mansaray understands how easy it can be to fall into that trap.
However, not all phone time is bad, and some apps can be helpful. Mazzola has an app on her phone that even helps with her health. “I have a heart rate app that connects to my phone and Apple watch because I have heart issues, so that has helped me,” she said.
Theron also commented that an app that has really helped her is Focus Time. She says that “it’s pomodoro study technique, has a little countdown, and it’s really cute, and I love it. It helps me focus on cleaning, or studying, or stuff like that.”
In general it seems that many don’t love the impact of phones and the amount of time spent on them. However, there can be worth in it. In that way, phone time is both valuable and a vice.
Collegiate reporters Marie-Ange Betz and Bethany Davis contributed to this article. Collegiate Editor in Chief Alexa Cheaney contributed to this article.
