Say No to Bad Screening Habits

Everything close and far is blurrier than usual. Your eyesight seems to be getting worse. This is just one of the many signs that you are spending too much time on electronics. Hours upon hours are spent on electronic screens each day of our lives. With minimal restrictions these screening habits can negatively affect one’s health. 

Electronics release something called blue light. Blue light is a short wavelength type of color seen by the human eyes. Blue light is on the visible light spectrum and can damage cells in the retina. This can cause something called early muscular degeneration. Some symptoms of muscular degeneration are blurriness, issues with color perception, distorted vision and more.

“I usually spend about seven hours on electronics a day, mostly using my phone,” sophomore Cameron Jones said.

These hours of electronic use each day can cause an eye doctor visit that ends in an unwanted result. Even though check up visits to an eye doctor can help provide a healthy lifestyle regarding eyesight, everyone wants to hear good news after the visit. Not news about their vision being impaired or one’s eyesight has plunged into the negatives.

“With most of my school work being online now, I end up being on electronic screens much more than I prefer to,” sophomore Emily Duckman said.

There is a recommended way to use electronics to help with screening for teens and kids. The average screen time suggested for teens, according to News24, is “two hours a day of leisure screen time.” The recommended time is not that much compared to how much time teens today spend on their screens. A tip to getting rid of these bad screening habits is to set time limits on apps. This would be most effective on social media apps to not tend one to use the app as much. The position of screens is also a negative factor in bad screening habits. According to Health University of Utah, it advocates for people to “Position screens about an arm’s length away and a bit below your line of vision. Because this protects vision, as well as the neck and posture.” To get rid of bad screening habits altogether, finding another activity to pass time is also a great idea, activities such as, playing board games, card games, going on a leisure walk, etc. 

“I try to cut down my time by putting my phone far from me when I know I don’t need to use it,” sophomore Xavier foman said.

Many suncoast students and other students in general struggle with this addiction to electronic devices. Almost forcing us to stay on our screens. Creating bad screening habits for many to deal with. Bad screening habits can majorly and increasingly affect one’s health overtime. So it is time to put down the phone, computer, laptop, or any other device that uses blue light and just relax. Go enjoy a healthy snack, spend time with friends or family and allow your eyes to simply relax.