I want you to think of your daily screen time right now. Yeah, you should be embarrassed. Your ancestors did not go through poverty, world wars, racism, sexism, or diseases, just for their legacies to be thrown in the garbage by future generations who waste hours each day on TikTok and Instagram Reels. I hate to break this to you (I don’t), but allowing social media to hold any power over your life or mental state is a stupid choice. It’s time to turn off the phone.

This issue primarily boils down to our own refusal to take accountability. Whether we choose to admit it or not, our social media addiction is no one’s fault but our own. By continuing to normalize this excessive usage of our cell phones, we only dig the hole deeper and continue to cause problems for ourselves. Problems that we then complain about nonstop, blaming others for the consequences of our own actions.

Think of it this way; I’m sure we’ve all glanced at our notifications in class when we probably should’ve been paying attention. However, the larger issue arises once students become so distracted by their phones that it influences their academic performance, reflecting poorly on their grades. These same students then have the audacity to get upset and blame their teachers when they don’t understand the material being covered in their classes as if they weren’t playing Block Blast the whole time. 

According to a study highlighted by the National Library of Medicine, even a small interruption of less than three seconds on a smartphone can lead to a person making more errors on a task. The study has terrible implications for those of us who spend almost entire class periods with their phones in their laps (yeah, you’re not slick we all see you). The NLM also states that the daily use of phones can cause a decrease in productivity. So maybe, just a suggestion, stop hitting that like button and go hit those books instead, and you won’t have ten missing assignments.

Also, the increasing demand of beauty standards on social media has to be the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard. Some of y’all are really out here getting butt hurt because you don’t have a “gamine essence”, or aren’t “deer pretty”, or have “black cat energy”, or “siren eyes”, or “legging legs”, or “high visual weight.” Letting a collection of phrases some fourteen year old made up on TikTok dictate your confidence is insane because, more often than not, these standards don’t even exist in regular day to day life. 

Most teens have some level of insecurity, we know this all too well. Yet we are the ones who continue to obsess over and give platforms to creators on TikTok who promote unattainable standards and teach us how to “looksmaxx”. Instead of stepping away from toxic social media content, we keep making up new terms and guidelines for us to bend over backwards trying to fulfill at the expense of our own self esteem.

Despite this, I think the most relevant downside to being an active member of social media is the way so many of us just don’t care about our digital footprint. Like, can we please bring back shame, because what do you mean “get ready with me to jump a girl from my school”, or “storytime about how my mom stole my boyfriend”, or “am I the bad person for ruining my wife’s wedding?” Oversharing on social media is way too normalized, and what you put out online doesn’t just go away. All I’ll say is don’t get upset if your future boss fires you over your old social media posts.

With recent studies naming Gen Z as the most depressed and anxious generation, it makes sense that we are also some of the most open about the importance of mental health awareness. Gen Z was also the first generation to grow up online, making social media a part of our everyday lives. However, despite the fact that we’re well aware of the damage being online can do to our mental health, we also refuse to take accountability for our own contribution to at least some of this spike in depression/anxiety by overindulging in cell phone usage. 

Imagine crying and wondering why your mood is so low after you spent all weekend in bed scrolling TikTok. Are we not connecting the dots here? Cell phones are at least playing some role in our poor mental health, yet we keep pointing the finger at other factors or circumstances when we should be setting healthy limits on the extent at which we consume social media.      

While it’s true that the internet can be a place for people to connect with one another and innovate, the pipeline from casual enjoyer to chronically online and deranged is a short one. According to Verizon, teenagers are the most susceptible to cell phone addiction. Once this addiction sets in, it can only make a person more likely to fall victim to these other downsides of overindulgence. 

Instead try to, I don’t know, touch grass. Go for a walk instead of doom scrolling for two hours. There’s literally thousands of things you can do that will likely benefit you more in the long run than being online ever will.

You are responsible for your own cell phone use. Make the right choice. Turn off the phone.