We all hear complaints from older relatives and read articles about how social media has begun to have such a negative impact on teenagers. The truth about how negatively our world is being affected by social media is hard to come to terms with, since this is the world in which we are growing up. However, there is so much truth to these statements, and we all must begin to change our ways to enjoy our day-to-day life even more. A lot of the time, phones do more harm than good. Take it from me, a teenager just like you; while phones are almost a necessity today, it is also necessary to take a break from them once in a while.

Phones should be used to communicate, to connect. They should be used to talk to old friends and maybe even connect with new ones. However, the art of communicating, talking, laughing, and having fun in person is starting to get lost. Some people can barely hold conversations with each other, let alone their elders. Not a single one of us can slow down time or stop technology from advancing. We cannot control or change the world into which we were born and are growing up on. However, we can control what we do with the technology we are given.

We do not even realize we are addicted. Many of us feel the constant need to always check and be on our phones. Students spend hours and hours a day on their phones, time that could otherwise be spent really enjoying the company of friends and family. Try putting down your phone at a party, and just talk and laugh with your friends, without having to take a picture to show the rest of the world. I take pictures of what I do all the time, sometimes out of boredom and sometimes just to show others. Neither reason is a good one; taking pictures should be for yourself, to have your own memories captured, not to show off to others about what you are doing.

When with friends or family, we are often told by adults to put our phones away. I know from experience that when told to put my phone away, I do not want to and often feel the urge to rebel and look at it. However, if I choose to put it down on my own and just enjoy the company of the people I am with, the need to go on it disappears.

Nothing truly important is happening on your phones every minute. Trust me, I understand the desire to be on the phone and check everything constantly. However, the more and more I have stopped doing so, everything on my phone has seemed less important. Disconnecting is a gradual process, and something you must choose to do regularly in order for it to work. Once you begin to disconnect, you will begin to feel more and more alive and present, and life without the constant use of your phone will become, believe it or not, more enjoyable.