By Nicholas Biria
@NicholasBiria
As stated to a new study, college students are spending one-fifth of their time in class on their cell phones or digital devices when they should be learning. Countless apps have been successful and more are being made just to consume our valuable time.
We probably spend countless hours a day on our phones. According to The Washington Post the average student spends 27 hours a week on their phone. We are constantly checking those apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Chances are you can find your peers checking these in or between classes and it can be distracting. Now that we are in college we get a lot more freedom to do more of nothing. Researchers say that the main culprit is texting.
That is the problem we get more time to do more of nothing. Yes it can be a positive thing. We can talk to friends and socialize but let us remember to limit ourselves. Too much of a good thing isn’t always the best. In an interview with Health Day, the study’s author, Barney McCoy said, “most of us love technology,” McCoy is an associate professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “And we want it to benefit us. But technology also affords a view that can be distracting.”
Also we see students in between classes wasting time doing other things. Such as surfing the net for some online shopping or even watching Netflix. There is a variety of things one can do but it all depends on how they choose to spend their time.
70 percent of students have been reported checking social media, such as Facebook. Going back to social media platforms, we check them countless times a day and students could be using that time to study or work on other assignments. Cell phones open a big door for social media. All that time spent socializing can be used to better our academics.
“To be honest I actually spend eight to nine hours a day on my phone, it’s a little unhealthy” LPC Engineering student Jenny Rose said. She showed me all the different apps on her phone and it was a bit mortifying. Most of the space on her phone is already taken up and she has some unnecessary stuff on her iPhone. “There’s so many apps I don’t even use, once in a while I’ll go on them when I’m bored. It really is a distraction from all of my studying and I’m going to work on that this semester” she said.
LPC Psychology major Denise Falconer showed us her phone as well. “I hardly ever use my phone, I just use it for pictures of my family and Facebook. When it comes to school I’m always busy and studying. I’m actually very privileged to be here and furthering my education.”
Overall we should really put our phones down for a minute and get back to those books. We’re all here for similar reasons whether it be to get an A.A. degree or transfer. Let’s get off those phones and get it done.
