TEEN DIARIES 3: Screen Time vs. Time Management

“Kaya kayo nagkakasakit e dahil sa cellphone niyo!” How many times have I heard this from my mom and grandmother telling me this over and over way back pandemic days. I could even ask the same question to anyone just to hear the same response as some would say “You sound like my mom.” Kidding aside, part of the statement which was first mentioned is partially true as it has been proved by the Department of Health (2018) that an increasing number of nearsighted or myopic children in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu is due to excessive electronic device use.

As an active servant youth leader in our Parish, San Pablo and at our chapel, the GKK Sto. Niňo Chapel of Lanzona, it has always been part of my preaching to lessen excessive use of cellphones and pray more often, always keep in touch with our parents and practice communicating with the people in our houses. Although, it’s quite a challenge these days since we also have to consider that there are still some students, including me, who still have to attend the online modality. This is where “Time Management” comes into play. If my 15-year-old self gets to hear such words, AUGH! The 15-year-old Sophia will certainly respond to you with a “I work at my own pace. Don’t intervene!” But as years passed, she missed out a lot of good conversations she could have heard from her mom. She missed a lot of good and memorable family outings that she would have enjoyed if only she detached herself from her phone. Because of social media, she started getting the “FOMO”, Fear Of Missing Out. Little did she know, because of excessive use of gadgets, she was the one who was missing out on the fun.

Spending my life as a teen is such a hassle. I totally don’t want to be an “Out of Place” lady! However, as I started attending Youth Camps, Youth-leadership Seminars, Servant-leadership Summits with my mom’s permission and encouragement, it somehow changed my entire perception. I started applying the mindset: “I am a manager. I am a manager of my time, and I am the boss. Just like cash or gold, I should be the one who is responsible for how I spend it.” Little by little, I started detaching myself with my phone.

There are some phones that have those applications that could help you monitor your screen time. To make my teenage life more historic, memorable and fun, I used that as a challenge for myself. Believe me when I say that I use my phone over 18 hours within 24 hours, Cray-Zee! One of my missions is to bring out the better version of myself, so I pushed myself to take baby steps. Nevertheless, it will be difficult for me– I will never expect myself to achieve 10 hours of screen time a day because I can’t just have a huge improvement within just a week. That will be unbelievably impossible. Starting slow, I encouraged myself to only hit 15 hours of screen time a day; 5 hours in the morning, 3 in the afternoon, and 7 in the evening. I practiced that for weeks, until I noticed that my screen time started decreasing from 15 hours a day to 11 hours!. It might be something small for you, but for me, those are my little-wins! I am happy about my small accomplishments. As July 2024 began, our house-to-house rosary really helped me limit my screen time. Guess what? From 11 hours, I only get to use my cell phone 6 hours a day!

To my fellow youth and kids, could you ever beat your own screen time? How many hours are we stuck in social media?

(By: Sophia Beatrice V. Sison | San Pablo Youth Apostolate)

Reference:

• https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2018/0819_delima1.asp#:~:text=The%20Department%20of%20Health%20(DOH,constant%20use%20of%20electronic%20gadgets.