Editor’s note: We’re looking for a variety of young voices to contribute to “Hits Different.” If you’d like to write a commentary, send it to Managing Editor Zachary-Taylor Wright at [email protected].
How would your life change if you didn’t have a smartphone? The devices increasingly have become a cornerstone of society. They’ve altered how we communicate, build friendships and obtain information.
According to a study by global-tech company Asurion, Americans check their phones 96 times a day, which is once every 10 minutes. However, until I was in seventh grade, I checked my phone zero times a day. I simply did not have one to check.
My parents, drawing from their knowledge as educators, decided that owning a smartphone would be deleterious to my well-being. Besides the obvious reasons, such as expenses and the question of whether I was responsible enough to take care of a phone, my parents had a more significant question on their minds: If I got a phone, would the innocent, happy, cooperative daughter they knew become completely sullen and withdrawn, succumbing to the luminous smartphone screen?
My parents were entirely convinced the answer was yes.
On the other hand, I was certain I needed a phone. Years of playing school sports and not being able to contact my parents if my practice ended early or my softball game got rained out had taken a toll. Having to ask a teammate to borrow her phone was a hassle and, frankly, embarrassing. So, I resolved to convince my parents by any mean necessary to get me a phone. Detailed PowerPoint presentations on the merits of a phone soon become a key component of my three-part strategy. I also made appeals to the “if my friend’s parents got her a phone, why can’t I have one” line of reasoning (which only made my parents more unyielding).
Of course, my strategy was not complete without shedding many tears.
Reflecting now, I understand this was an extremely privileged problem to have. Unfortunately, seventh-grade me felt not owning a phone was the worst situation any child could possibly encounter. Ultimately, my parents did get me a phone when they upgraded their cellphone plan. I became the overjoyed recipient of my dad’s old iPhone 6, and I subsequently spent all day deciding which wallpaper I liked the best.
One condition was emphasized the most out of several restrictions: I was not allowed to have social media — Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and more.
Happy at first just to have a smartphone, I slowly began to realize that not having social media severely hindered my ability to communicate with friends. I could text them, but the majority of my peers used Snapchat and Instagram for engagement. As I tried explaining to my dad, I felt a strange sense of being left out of the loop.
This feeling of resentment increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it became harder for me to stay in touch with my friends. With the rise of the increasingly dominant app TikTok, I felt even more disconnected. When I met up with my friends, they would discuss funny trends and dances they had seen on TikTok.
Then, articles began appearing in my news feed exploring the heavy toll social-media use had taken on teens’ mental health during the pandemic.
It became apparent to me this is what my parents wanted to protect me from. The Mayo Clinic reports that a 2019 study of more than 12,000 13- to 16-year-olds found that poor mental health and social well-being could be correlated to using social media more than three times a day. A 2016 study also found high social-media use was associated with poor sleep and greater levels of depression and anxiety in teenagers.
I believe a large factor in the uptick of anxiety and depression disorders in teens is due to social-media use.
Overall, I am grateful to my parents for preventing me from falling into that trap.
I have to remind myself that even though I didn’t fully see it at the time, not having social media will benefit me in the long run.
Dannah Novick, 17, is a high school senior.
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