The 13th-annual National Day of Unplugging 2022 was March 4 and 5. The concept of “unplugging,” however, is not just something that should be put into action once or twice a year. “Teenagers in the United States are spending vast amounts of their days using screens as a form of leisure and entertainment… Teens spend an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on their phones a day, and tweens — ages 8 to 12 — are not far behind, at four hours and 44 minutes daily,” stated ABC News.
If teenagers spend an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on their cellphones per day, then they are sacrificing over 30 percent of a 24-hour day to their electronic devices.
Students use their electronic devices so much that, ironically, the article now being read was written on a Chromebook. That just goes to show how addictive but versatile electronics can be.
Lisa Popovich, Penn-Trafford High School nurse, said, “Well, truthfully, I think [students] should only be on [devices] as necessary…. It distracts us from so many things… I think [unplugging] is a great idea, especially when we get a break in the weather– we can do things outside. It’s wonderful.”
SCL Health states that the blue light emitted by cell phone screens restrains the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle – this makes it even more difficult to fall asleep and wake up the next morning, and exposure to blue light can cause damage to the retinas.
Being on a phone even just half an hour before bed can negatively affect the circadian rhythm, also known as the sleep-wake cycle.
It is easy to fall into the trap of endless scrolling, but there are so many other things that could be done instead.
If one were to leave their comfort zones, then they will find that there is a whole world out there for them outside of their phone.
Popovich said that one of her biggest health concerns is vision, and people are looking at their phones and focusing – when they look up, their vision becomes suddenly blurry.
“National Day of Unplugging is an awareness campaign that promotes a 24-hour respite from technology every year the first weekend in March,” stated the National Day of Unplugging website.
Popovich added that another health concern is mental health because with social media and electronics, people are drawn away from reality– people need to actually socialize. Other science and medical experts agree.
“Before smartphones, all interaction was face-to-face, and there’s a richness of communication that gets lost when you have a conversation on the phone or through texting,” stated UNC Health neurologist Dan Kaufer, MD.
National Day of Unplugging is a project of a non-profit, membership organization called Unplug Collaborative, which was established in February of 2020. Memberships are open to anyone who wants to extend awareness about a balance between using technology and living our lives to the fullest.
Abby Dreistadt, Staff Writer