Phones influence all aspects of teenage life. Ninety-five percent of Americans ages 13 to 17 have a smartphone or have access to one, and nearly half report using the internet “almost (26)_____.”
But as recent survey data and interviews have suggested, many teens find much of that time to be unsatisfyingly spent. Continuous (27)_____ shouldn’t be mistaken for endless enjoyment. A new (28)_____ representative survey about “screen time and device distractions” from the Pew Research Center indicates that it’s not just parents who think teenagers are worryingly (29)_____ from their phones—many teens themselves do too. Fifty-four percent of the 13-to-17-year-olds surveyed said they spend too much time (30)_____ in their phones.
Vicky Rideout, who runs a research firm that studies children’s interactions with media and technology, was not surprised by this finding. She says it’s hardly (31)_____ to teenagers. “They are dealing with the same challenges that adults are, as far as they are living in the (32)_____of a tech environment designed to suck as much of their time onto their devices as possible,” Rideout says.
The way parents interact with technology can (33)_____ the way they interact with their kids. Rideout thus thinks it’s up to parents to model good (34)_____: Kids tend to take note if their parents put their phone away at dinner or charge it in another room while they sleep. Witnessing habits like that can help kids “realize that they can (35)_____ some more control over their devices,” she says.
