How is tech affecting our teens?
As a parent of young children, I struggle with the addiction of screen time for them and for myself! So I will be guiding them towards outdoor hobbies as much as I can … it is a very common issue in many households for all ages! I feel very lucky that here on the Coromandel Peninsula there are female soccer teams and rugby teams available, as well as other outdoor clubs. We are also very lucky to have an amazing natural environment on our doorstep. Does it pull teenagers away from their phones for a day or two? Or add to their social media use with posting photos and videos?
How many hours do you think you spend on electronic devices per week, and how many hours outside per week?
“Um, like 30 hours on a device per week, hahaha, and I have no idea how many hours outside.” – female, aged 15
“I spend about 84 hours outside and about 14 hours’ screen time.” – female, aged 17
“I’d say when there is school and surf, I’d usually spend 8 – 10 hours outside, but I think my weekly average on screen time was 4 hours last week.” – male, aged 17
“8 or 9 outside per week and 7 hours online.” – male, aged 15
“Oh I spend so many hours on my phone, it says that my screen time is 7 hours per day so that is 49 hours per week. I like to not check as it is very embarrassing, also a bit humbling. Hours spent outside, I have no idea! Maybe I should go for a swim today …” (laughter here)
– female, aged 18
These few answers got me thinking … so I asked a few more questions …
What do you think the benefits are of spending time outdoors?
“So many! Vitamin D, being in the sun – good for mental health.”
What do you find yourself spending the most time doing, on your phone?
“Tiktok, Instagram, social media … I’m a classic teenager.”
What motivates you to get off your phone?
“When I’m hungry!” (laughter)
You do have lots of hobbies, do you use social media to look up ideas for hobbies?
“Yes I like to knit so I use Pinterest a lot. If I really want to get motivated, like if I want to clean, or something, I watch other people doing it, sometimes for outdoor hobbies too. Not long ago I was looking at so many surfing videos and I was like, I’m going to get good like them!”
Did you know that indoor plants can help with oxygen and mental health?
“Do they? Oh, that’s true! I had so many indoor plants at home, I went through a faze when I couldn’t stop buying them! I had a monstera that was as long as I am tall, like 5 feet wide and 4 feet tall.”
How did you go with watering them all?
“Depending on the plant, when I was in my full plant stage I would know how often they needed watering from looking online.”
Would you be interested in joining any outdoor groups here in New Zealand?
“I would like to. I just don’t know any, not many people my age live around here, they have gone back to school, all the uni kids.”
When you were home in Colorado were you part of any outdoor groups at all?
“Not many outdoor activities. My brother was snowboarding, skiing and hiking, but I’m not much of a hiker.”
Would you say that male teenagers do more outdoor activities than females?
“I think there were more opportunities for males to do outdoor team sports where I lived. There was only volleyball for females at my school and that was played indoors. There weren’t any female sports teams for soccer and rugby at my school.”
Are you a schedule person or more cruisey?
“Cruisey.”
Do you think many teenagers are schedule people?
“I don’t know, I think my friends and I were not.”
For exercise do you prefer outdoor exercise or indoor?
“I prefer outdoor exercise because the sun is nice. Plus there are more fun things to do outdoors, like swimming.”
– Teenager from Colorado aged 18
Most adults, when asked how long they spend on electronic devices, are embarrassed to answer. Scrolling through social media is a classic embarrassing addiction held by many.
My next question is, how to break the electronic device addiction, and what is a healthy balance between electronic device time and time spent outdoors …?
Google Answer: Choosing device free zones in the home, keeping phones out of the bedroom at night and using free tools to turn devices on and off at different times of the day are just some ways to help children strike a healthy balance between activities on and offline.
Words by Libby Reily
