Opinion: Cellphone addiction has become an epidemic in college students’ lives. Here’s how we can beat it.

Nick Grunig

Bengal Contributor

Modern technology is a razor’s edge. I have used media in both life-changing ways and also harmful ways. As I see the use of internet media go up, I want to offer some caution to others so we can take advantage of the benefits while limiting the harms.

Cellphone addiction has become a significant problem in the life of students. A Baylor study in 2018 found that college women spent 10 hours a day on their cellphone on average, and for college men, it was still 8 hours. 8-10 hours is a long time, a third of our day. Though a portion of it is work-related, much of the time spent was on social media, surfing the web, and texting.

These things can be essential or useful, but to realize a third of the average person’s day is spent hooked to a phone can get a bit worrisome, as Dr. Roberts and Associates from Baylor University note that phone usage is creating a new generation addicted to them. The science checks out, though only 60 percent of college students admit to having a cell phone addiction, the study suggests that cell phone usage is possibly the biggest non-drug addiction of the 21st century.

A Boston Globe article in 2018 reports that companies like Google and Facebook have apologized in the past for “deliberately creating addictive and manipulative designs.” The former ethicist of Google, who ended up leaving to start the Center for Humane Technology to help fight addictive design, calls smartphones a digital slot machine. From the flashing lights of winnings like notifications, likes, retweets, to feeling like you are always talking to a friend via text message. There is much reward to be had using a phone, but that’s the point.

The goal of apps, browsers, websites, and other forms of media is to keep people on that media, as companies are there specifically to please stockholders by making a profit. The vacuum test would show that regardless of what Google does, reformed if it didn’t make more profit year after year, stagnation would be worrisome.

Another thing that I should explicitly mention is, as we graduate and move on to our careers, we will want to work hard to make a name for ourselves. That’s a good thing to want. However, Tristan Harris (founder of the Center for Humane Technology) reports a bleeding effect that is happening between personal and work life. A constant need to do things like answer emails means that people are working overtime without realizing it.

So how do we arm ourselves in protection from such bleeding effects and addictions? Dr. Tchiki Davis explains that a few steps can be taken to help stop addiction. For one, periodically fast from electronics. The term coined here is digital detox, it takes the reward system that causes the want for social media, and rears it back to a leisure activity, a privilege let’s say. This summer spend a week without electronics if possible.

Another thing Dr. Davis says can help is asking why you are pulling out your phone. Being mindful over the purpose of using a phone in an instance can help one realize unhealthy usage.

My favorite suggestion is from Tristan Harris himself, where he advocates for creating a schedule for social media usage, to use it as an activity for free time in specific times and to not check it at other times. To help stop the bleeding effect I recommend doing this for email too, checking emails periodically instead of on the spot.

The last recommendation is spending at least 10 minutes, if not closer to half an hour, without

connectedness. Don’t listen to music, don’t watch TV or videos, don’t have an electronic out, don’t be driving, or any other way you might interact with another person. Sit and think about the day and ask what you can take away from it. This reflective period is endorsed by Cal Newport, Professor at Georgetown, an avid supporter of Digital Minimalism.

To reiterate, I find phone usage to be a great thing, as I can have access to infinite knowledge and connection to a plethora of friends. However, much like overconsumption of food, overconsumption of media can lead to a lot of negative harms.