Alyssa Ruthstrom, a senior at Morgan, spends most of her time playing volleyball and softball, participating in musical theater, and singing. Ruthstrom is majoring in Journalism and plans to go into sports reporting, specifically football, after high school.

Ruthstrom believes that she spends most of her time scrolling on TikTok, listening to music, and communicating with her friends through apps like Snapchat. She wishes she “had lower screen time because she feels like it would cause her to become a bit more productive and have more motivation overall.”

Daily Average: 8 hours and 38 minutes

Most used app: TikTok

Category: High-user

Ruthstrom considers how she sometimes uses her phone for school and assignments, increasing her screen time. However, she said that she often finds herself procrastinating on assignments she has to get done because she is on her phone. “I get so sucked into entertainment aspects on my phone, which causes me to tell myself I have time to do assignments later,” said Ruthstrom.

Ruthstrom’s overall view is that social media contains great tools that can be useful to complete certain tasks. However, social media can cause bullying, security issues, isolation, and health concerns many aren’t aware of.

“I’m not exactly proud of my screen time because it is pretty high and made me think about how I use my time during the day,” Ruthstrom said.

Alistair Hampton-Dowson, a freshman at Morgan, spends most of his time playing the drums and tennis.

Hampton-Dowson, who has a low screen time, believes that his screen time is low because he only tries to use it when necessary. Instead of being on screens, he finds himself playing drums. He said, “I think low screen time benefits my health because I’m not staying up playing on my phone for hours so I can get a good sleep.”

Daily Average: 1 hour and 28 minutes

Most used app: Snapchat

Category: Low-user

Hampton-Dowson doesn’t feel like he’s missing out on anything as many find themselves addicted and attached to their screens 24/7. “Social media is addicting, yes, but it has the value of being able to connect thoroughly.” However, he believes there can be good outcomes of using technology. “You can connect overall with friends through lots of different platforms and it has a safety factor involving being able to communicate with parents in a time of urgency.”

Regardless of the positives and negatives, Hampton-Dowson is happy with the amount of time he spends on his phone each day as he states, “The amount of time I spend is all the time I need.”

Mr. DiStefano, a photographer teacher here at Morgan spends most of his time hiking, playing Pickleball, and going to the gym. 

Mr. DiStefano recieved his first phone in middle school therefore his parents were aware when he would arrive home. His phone was a slide phone, used for necessary communication. 

Daily Average: 5 hours and 56 minutes 

Most used app: Instagram 

Category: High-user 

Since Mr. DiStefano is a photographer, he finds himself on the phone with clients often and using technology to look at photos. Still, time passes by and he doesn’t realize how much he is on his screen. He admits, “I end up doomscrolling and just spending time on things that I don’t need to.” 

Although Mr. DiStefano is a photographer, constantly taking photos with the use of technology, he believes that having a high screen time takes away his ability to have more social in-person interactions. “It’s a big time waster and it definitely distances me from actual conversations with people,” he states. After finding out his daily average screen time, Mr. DiStefano is unsatisfied with his results. “We only get one life and it’s becoming a realization that I’m wasting it behind the screen,” Mr. DiStefano said. 

Mr. Milcent is a math teacher at Morgan who enjoys playing the piano, working out, and being active in music, while not on his phone. 

Mr. Milcent received his first phone in high school. It was a flip phone, allowing him to only text. Mr. Milcent tries to advocate limiting his apps to decrease his screen time even more. Even though he has a low screen time compared to other teachers, he said, “I am very conscious of how much time I put on my phone, and I’ve done a lot to try to limit my screen time in terms of useless time.” Mr. Milcent even explains that at one point he went a few months without using a smartphone. “I’ve even got as far as going to a dumb phone, so I had a dumb phone or a non-smartphone for a few months, but I just found that sharing pictures and things with family just gets too hard, and too complicated, he said. 

Daily Average: 2 hours and 37 minutes 

Most used app: Chess 

Category: Low-user 

Mr. Milcent expresses his belief that “It’s the software, it’s the things that people are developing, that go along with the technology,” causing apps to be addicting. He suggests that apps are designed to be addictive, making money from advertisements. 

He acknowledges that technology these days allows a sense of connectivity stating, “People can be connected who are very far apart.” Mr. Milcent also believes “making art digitally has never been easier with the technology.” However, he feels that social media is “out to get you like it’s not a positive in a lot of people’s lives anymore.” Mr. Milcent says, “Social media has its voice, but like a lot of things, I think it’s misused and overused.”