Screen Scrutiny

COST:

Students, teachers discuss increased phone usage in educational settings, potential impact

masie johnson & ainsley guzman section editors

American teens spend an average of seven hours a day on their phone — a drastic increase from ten years ago. Unsurprisingly, this has sparked sweeping concern from parents and teachers, whose childhood looked very different from that of high schoolers now.

Long-tenured teachers who were first employed before the rise of personal devices have since learned to adapt their means of teaching.

“Phone addiction is a real thing, and I think many teens have it,” graphic design teacher Kelly Graebner said. “This is my 15th year in the district, but I would say maybe ten years ago [student phone usage] really started taking off, and it’s just increased. I do think it’s a problem.”