Have you ever been with someone who was constantly on his or her phone? You aren’t the only one. According to the Pew Research Center in February 2016, people in today’s society are so addicted that an average American logs onto Facebook five times or more a day. This Online addiction leads to cutting off human communication.

People are getting lazier in life because of having everything at their fingertips. The harms of over-using social media come in two major key parts: mental and physical. Spending too much time on your phone messes with your personal thinking by leading you into isolation. Detaching from society is the ironic result of trying to connect to too many people at the same time.

Nancy Rivera, a senior in LTHS, speaks out on how she feels after spending all day Online. Rivera responds, “Stressed and jumpy, depending on what I’m doing.”

Also, when asked if Nancy feels tired or worse staring at a computer screen, she agreed with the statement:  “Yeah, I don’t like to admit it, but it makes me feel tired sometimes.”

We may fix our social media addictions by having a ‘social media detox’. An Online detox means to go days or even weeks without a phone, computer, or logging onto social media websites. This detox is highly recommended by the American Psychological Association. After following the detox, you will begin to feel less stressed and relaxed.

Also stated by the research provided by the American Psychological Association: “Nearly one-fifth of Americans surveyed identified technology as a very or somewhat significant source of stress.”  

If you thought it was school stressing you out, it may end up being your phone instead.