Photos by Romensa Tariq
by Romensa Tariq
Life was enjoyable and fruitful when apples and blackberries were just fruit. Now those are now devices that we use up to 9 hours a day, according to Common Sense Media. The Ditmas Examiner asked local residents for advice for curbing tech addictions.
Disable your accounts “Disable accounts for a while, like Facebook and Twitter but don’t delete them,” said Nosheen Tariq, 26. Seven in 10 Americans use social media, according to Pew Research Center.
Use tech to help you prevent from tech “There are apps that tell if we have used our phone for over a long time and it will lock your phone,” said Tahir Mahmood, 23. One option for this is the Freedom app, which blocks those social medias that are used over. Another option is Anti-Social, an app which prevents social media sites from loading.
Turn off the notification “Turning your notification off will make you stop looking at your phone over time,” said Muhammad Awais, 21. This summer, Carnegie Mellon University joined forces with Spanish telecommunication giant Telefonica to challenge participants to stay away from their phones for 24 hours. Two-thirds of those studied reported spending less time online after the challenge.
Leave your phone in another room for a couple of hours every day Not using your phone a lot makes you less depressed and more relaxed, said Tariq Mahmood, 50. While the connection between prolonged cell phone use and health risks are still undecided, the California Department of Health released guidelines earlier this year warning people to keep phone away from their bodies to prevent from brain cancer and other disease.
Avoid video games “Avoiding games that are addictive will give less anxiety in life and better health,” said Fizza Khalid, 14. One Michigan teen skipped school so much to play video games that his parents sent him for treatment at a wilderness camp.
Unplug your phone when going to bed “It’s good for better sleep to not use a phone at night,” said David Wilson, 17. A new study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found teens who didn’t read on their iPad before bed had a better time sleeping than those that did.
Deleting apps that aren’t needed “This leads us to have more attention on other good things and teens won’t be stressful,” Rabia Khalid, 15. People spend most of their time using 5 of their apps, according to survey group comScore. Delete little-used apps and you’ll have less temptation to try to distract yourself.