English Plus Y1
In recent years, technology has developed significantly, becoming an essential part of our daily lives. Teachers and students at our school often claim that technology is constantly controlling us, but is this really true? More specifically, do we truly understand how smartphone usage affects us?
As a class, in order to better understand this phenomenon, we launched a survey for all high school students in the Licei and AFM programmes to complete. We received 182 responses, representing 43% of this community. The results turned out to be quite intriguing.
More than half of the students use their phones between three and four hours a day. This shows how important smartphones have become in their daily lives. According to the results, Year 4 students are the ones who use their phones the most, suggesting that older pupils are more inclined to use their devices for longer periods of time than younger ones.
Teenage students’ smartphone use reveals a great deal about their priorities and needs. To begin with, a smaller number of students report using gaming platforms, and only a very small percentage seek support from online communities. This suggests that their primary focus is not gaming or online forums but social interaction. From the data collected, we can infer that constant connection with others is a crucial aspect of their daily lives—something they value and prioritise. As evidence, results show that 134 teenagers out of 182 mainly use social platforms, such as Whatsapp, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Moreover, 78% of respondents report using social media to avoid stress: it is common knowledge that nowadays social pressure on teenagers is particularly strong, and some may turn to social media as a way to escape it.
But what about the impact that smartphones have on teenage health? In this regard, the findings suggest a certain level of dependence on technological devices.
We investigated the link between smartphone usage, anxiety levels, and sleeping schedules. Regarding the former, one out of four respondents reported a moderate to strong urge to pick up their phone upon hearing a notification sound, while one third admitted using their phones while spending time with friends and family. As for the latter—whether smartphone use affects teenagers’ sleeping schedules—most respondents chose the lowest values on the rating scale, meaning that their sleep is not strongly affected by phone use. However, there is still a noticeable minority that reported moderate to high levels of impact, suggesting that using smartphones late at night can reduce sleep quality and cause tiredness during the day.
In conclusion, most teenagers nowadays use smartphones to access social media platforms in order to connect with friends and escape everyday stress and anxiety. However, it has recently been argued that these services are sometimes used improperly and may even contradict their original purpose—connecting people. Therefore, smartphones can truly be seen as a double-edged sword. Are you aware of how you are handling this tool, or are you just living through a screen?
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