High School students living in 2019 are constantly surrounded by screens. They have instant access to the internet and numerous social media platforms. On newer versions of the iPhone, there is a screen time feature in settings where you can view your average screen time per day. You can also see how much time you spend using each app. But how much time do Tahoma students really spend on their phones?

A recent poll on Instagram shows that Tahoma students spend anywhere from one to nine hours on their phones per day. 21 Tahoma students were asked what their average daily screen time is and out of that group of students, the average was 4.27 hours per day.

Freshman Leilani Guerzon says that in general she spends six to eight hours on her phone each day. She explains that she and her friends recently did a challenge where they tried to get the least amount of screen time after one week. “Most of us gave up around Saturday but for three solid days we did great and not being on my phone really helped me disconnect and realize there were so many other wonderful things to do” She said it was difficult to restrict her screen time at first but turning her phone off completely helped a lot.

Junior Tyler Craig says he spends about 4 hours on his phone per day. He has also tried to spend less time on his phone and says he’s gotten his daily average down to 2 and a half hours a day. “When I had no work to do in class I put my phone in my backpack so that way I could just talk to other people or figure out some type of work to do so I wasn’t always on my phone in class. [It was difficult] at first but then it eventually [became] a routine.” As a result, Craig now routinely spends less time on his phone and more time being productive.

Tahoma students evidently spend a lot of time on their phones every day. Some even spend up to nine hours on their phones and most of that time is spent on social media. However, trying to limit that can help students be more productive and will allow for more time to be spent on getting work done and building relationships with others.