Page 4 - Screen Addiction: A Teen Epidemic

INTRODUCTION

A Growing Crisis

In February 2020, a college student named Lev described how
his once-harmless hobby of watching movies was taking over
his life:

I watch movies on my laptop for hours on end. It takes
up all my study time, and before I know it the semes-
ter is over and another begins and I’m almost failing
all units. I just feel like time is rushing and nothing is
happening in my life except fantasizing what I see in
movies (healthy relationships, vacations, a lot of friends,
creativity, making an impact in the world . . .).

I currently feel so empty and have none of those. It has
become my hideout from life. I feel alone, I don’t interact
with people a lot and this has taken away almost all my
self esteem, ability to communicate with people and all
of my social life. I have these big plans and ideas in my
mind but always get carried away by movies looking for
a “high point” and fi lling a void which never gets fi lled.

Under the current coronavirus crisis schools have been
closed and I fi nd myself watching up to 20 hours a day
even struggling to get time to sleep or cook for myself.
I feel that I fi nally need to have a control of my life again
and become a better person. 1

Although Lev’s situation is extreme, his increased use of
electronic media during the pandemic is not unique. In Novem-
ber 2021, researchers at the University of California, San Fran-

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