Just like Pandora’s box, our phones hold both gifts and challenges. In high school and life, knowing how to navigate them is key.
Phones have practically become the symbol of our generation. If you ask someone to describe teens, chances are they’ll say: moody, changing, and glued to their phones.
Honestly, fair enough. We are the first generation to grow up with phones, and with that come big benefits and some major setbacks.
Phones make school life easier: instant communication, quick access to information, last-minute class updates, and organizing group projects fast. But as helpful as they are, they can also be incredibly distracting, especially when time is tight.
Apps like Instagram and TikTok are designed to keep us scrolling. Seeing everyone’s perfectly curated lives can make it easy to compare ourselves and feel like we are not enough. In high school, where everyone is trying to fit in, that pressure can feel even heavier. So much happens online, from group chats to drama, that face-to-face conversations can start to feel awkward and stressful.
On a bigger scale, overusing phones can affect mental and physical health, causing anxiety, sleep problems, and shorter attention spans. They can lower productivity, create social isolation, and even lead to privacy and safety concerns.
And, this isn’t just something I’ve read about, I’ve seen it happen around me, and sometimes I fall into the same trap. In previous years, I’ve watched classmates skip class, ignore instructions, or waste valuable learning time just to check their phones. Maybe to post a dance, text friends, or play a game.
I’ve also been guilty myself. Many times when I don’t feel like starting a task, I just open YouTube and start scrolling, even though I know I’m not using my time well. Eventually, I get back to my task, but that time is gone forever.
Phones are not all bad, and they are definitely not going anywhere. But finding balance, knowing when they help us and when they hurt us, is becoming more important than ever. At the end of the day, phones are just tools. How we use them can make our lives easier or a lot more complicated.
Strings of Thought 