23 August 2018
Most Teens Worry They Spent Too Much Time on Their Phones
Teens appear to be similarly worried about smartphone addiction as adults, a new Pew Research Center survey finds.
Around half (54 percent) of teens ages 13 through 17 worry they spend too much time on their mobile phones, while around 52 percent of the 743 US teens polled by Pew in March and April have already taken steps to cut back on their phone use.
"As they look at their own lives and those of their peers, most teens see things that worry them," Pew Research Analyst Jingjing Jiang wrote in the report. "Roughly nine-in-ten teens view spending too much time online as a problem facing people their age, including 60 percent who say it is a major problem."
Forty-four percent of teens said they "often" check their phone as soon as they wake up, Pew found. Some 57 percent "often" or "sometimes" feel like they need to respond to messages from other people immediately.
The report also found that "teens encounter a range of emotions when they do not have their cellphones, but anxiety tops the list." Forty-two percent of teens feel anxious when they are phoneless while 25 percent feel lonely and 24 percent feel upset. Girls are more likely than boys to feel anxious or lonely without their phone.
