According to the Pew Research Center, around 90% of teens look at their phones every morning before doing anything else, whether it be to check emails or scroll on social media. This percentage includes our very own Morgan students.
Here at Morgan, students use the internet for school work, going to websites like their email and Google Classroom, but that’s at school. Students and adults can get addicted to the internet and video games, which can consume their time.
Morgan’s staff, including teachers, use Chromebooks to help with teaching, though some teachers including one of Morgan’s guidance staff have noticed and grown wary of students becoming more addicted to the internet as a whole. Mrs. O’Beirn, Morgan’s guidance secretary, who has read and researched the topic, stated the Internet heavily affects a person’s self-esteem, lowering their mood and overall performance. Her fear was aimed at blue light, which can affect a human’s vision.
“Blue light increases cortisone, cortisone is a hormone your body naturally makes. . . You need it to function throughout the day,” O’Beirn said. O’Beirn pointed out that your phone’s blue light can heavily affect your body’s ability to produce cortisone, causing you to lose sleep and be more tired throughout the day. According to the National Library of Medicine, the increased levels of cortisone can greatly affect your ability to function throughout the day, since your body is only used to taking in sunlight, the extra light from your phone can take a toll on your body’s ability to stay functioning.
Blue light is a form of light humans can see, usually short wavelengths between 415 to 455 nanometers. Consuming or observing too much blue light can damage the retinas in your eyes, which is called phototoxicity. Blue Light can also increase a person’s risk for certain cancers. According to studies done by WebMD, people who work the night shift are more at risk for breast, prostate,
and colorectal cancers.
Luckily, there are ways to prevent it, including stopping it while the children are young. According to the National Library Of Medicine, completely shutting out the internet won’t help, but limiting the time on the internet can help more.
Some companies have tried to help limit the amount of screen time people have had, including Apple and Google. Apple implemented a new operating system in the iPhone 12 which informs a person of their screen time and for children’s phones having parental controls.
Morgan students are no strangers to using their phones more than the recommended amount per day, which is only two hours according to MyKidsVision. Sophomore Gavin Theriault, a self-labeled video game addict, feels like he is struggling with many of the same issues found in the research. He explained how he has almost six hours online. He often plays when he gets bored, but he mentioned another reason entirely. “Video games help me escape reality when life gets a bit hard, I just escape to video games,” Theriault said. He has stayed home from school and lost sleep due to this addiction, he stated that it may seem cool to stay up all night, but it takes a toll.
Sophomore Pedro Reis is another self-proclaimed internet addict. Reis explained that most of his time is spent on games such as Rainbow Six Siege and Minecraft. He also explained how, like Gavin, he uses video games to escape reality. Minecraft has more of an ability to captivate kids into being addicted since it has engaging gameplay and open-world exploration. Research done by the Cleveland Clinic states how winning or receiving items in a game can release dopamine, making people want to play more and more.
Escapism, however, is nothing new. TV and internet as a whole usage went up in usage due to the new technology and the 2020 pandemic to 2 hours and 33 minutes according to Statista. Reis also said he doesn’t just use video games to escape but also TV and the internet in general. Reis goes on to say how “It [the internet] isn’t much of a tool for work relating to school as it is entertainment, I use it whenever I can for anything I want.”
The internet is a valuable resource for students and adults alike to utilize and get through work and school, but it can also threaten a person’s mental and physical health if used too long and not given a break. So next time you have to choose between playing video games or going outside and hanging with friends or family, choose the second option.
