Extended Screen Time Is Wearing Students Down

Le Lu ’21 and Ashley Rayford ‘22 deal with screen fatigue and connectivity issues.

By BAHIYAH LEITO, ADEEBA MAHMOOD, HUA BIN WU, and JACKSON WANG

On Monday, March 23, New York City schools began the first day of online remote learning. Ever since, teachers have become almost entirely dependent on online teaching programs such as Google Classroom, Zoom, and Google Meet. It has been quite the adjustment, and not everyone loves this new normal. 

“Sometimes I feel like the teachers have no sense of our time,” said junior Bolanle Orioke. “We literally sit in front of the computer on calls all day.”

After classes are over, the second part of the student’s day consists of hours of completing assignments and sometimes pulling all-nighters, trying to get all that online work submitted.

“It’s like I do a couple assignments and then I turn around and my teachers are posting more,” Orioke said. “I let it pile up until the last minute and then rush and stress myself out to get it done fast. There's not really time to catch a break.”

The hours students spend in virtual meetings throughout the day make it hard to find that break time from screens. A poll of 140 Midwood students, mostly freshmen and juniors, showed that most favored a big reduction in virtual meeting time. A majority preferred meeting 3-4 days per week rather than every day, which is the current standard.

Responding to the question “How often do you think classes should meet virtually?” (for live instruction via Google Meet or Zoom), 53.6% of students opted for 3-4 times per week, 25% said 1-2 days per week, 19.3% said every day, and 2.1% said never. On non-meeting days, students would work on their assignments independently.

Students also preferred to keep live meetings fairly short; 78% of those polled said they wanted Zoom classes to last for 20 minutes or less per class.

Responding to the question “How much time during a class period do you think should be devoted to live online instruction?,” 50.7% of students chose 15-20 minutes per class, 21.4% said 25-30 minutes, 19.3% said 5-10 minutes, 7.9% said zero minutes (all work would be independent, with no mandatory meeting), and less than one percent said 35-40 minutes. Class periods officially last 42 minutes.

“Staring at a screen and trying to understand the information is very stressful and makes you think you won’t do as well, which then makes you actually not do as well,” Junior Class President Owaish Khan said. “It just causes a lot of anxiety.”

Khan rates her experience with remote learning so far a three out of ten. She says she spends about ten hours a day on an electronic device. 

Current guidelines require teachers to offer some form of live instruction to every class, every day. Different teachers are trying different approaches. This whole experience is new for them, too.

“As teachers we tread lightly through unknown circumstances,” middle school teacher Ms. Saraa Elkhaloui said. “We are acting as a virtual support system while having to also deal with the new normal.” 

It’s not easy for anyone. “It’s challenging keeping kids engaged,” Ms. Elkhaloui said. “Teaching through a computer screen can make us feel isolated from one another. It is becoming more difficult to build genuine relationships.”

Many students really are trying their best to maintain their grades and keep track of all their classes while dealing with everything else going on, but all this screen time can take a toll on their personal health and well-being.

“Sitting in front of my computer makes my back hurt sometimes,” said Kumi Peters ’22. “I get really sleepy, and I take a nap after school almost every day. I wear glasses, too, so looking at the computer makes me squint a lot.”

According to Growing Good Habits of Queensland, Australia, too much screen time can cause bad posture, diminished eyesight, weight gain, poor concentration, and mood swings. 

Junior Andy Chen agrees that it’s hard to stay focused after long durations of screen time. “Definitely,” he said. “You seem so distracted within the technology. It just makes you think about what you could have done with that spare time.”

Research also shows that screen time can slow down teenagers' thinking processes. According to research from the National Institute of Health (NIH), teens who have seven hours or more of screen time a day experience “cortex thinning” in the brain. This area of the brain accounts for critical thinking.

Junior Jason Zheng has felt some negative effects. “I personally find that extensive screen time greatly fatigues me,” he said. “At the end of a long session, I would sometimes feel sleepy, even though it’s only noon. For the most part, I am staring at a wall of text, either via a text document or messaging app or an article.”

Alex Wang ’22 doesn’t see that effect, though. He says screen time has not affected his thinking process. “No, not in any way,” he said, though it does make his eyes hurt.

Most screens we use emit radiation called “blue light,” which has a negative impact on the body's melatonin release. Melatonin levels tell our body when it is time for morning or night. Experiencing more screen time could result in a delay of this hormone’s release, upsetting our circadian rhythm (sleep cycle). Having long exposure to screen time can disrupt a person’s sleep schedule and potentially affect their mental health.

The home learning environment can also be full of distractions and technological difficulties. Some students don’t have their own room or a quiet place to learn, some need to share devices with their siblings, and some do not have reliable wifi. This can make live classroom meetings a challenge.

“My connection isn’t that good all the time,” junior Ashley Rayford said. “During class, my connection will get bad, or even before class, and it makes me late for a few minutes.” 

Tasfa Alam ’22 said, “It’s just hard to be at home and focus in class because, being at school, you’re in an environment for learning.” Alam spends almost the whole day on electronic devices. Still, she would rate her remote learning experience so far a six out of ten, she said.

Rayford said, “It’s definitely more difficult than going to Midwood. I guess I’m just taking it one day at a time.”

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