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Have you ever kept track
of how much time you spend

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looking at a screen?

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Like, actually log what you're
doing and for how long?

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Well, that's what I did
over the last few days,

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and on an average day,

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I spent about an hour
on Instagram,

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way too much time on Twitter--
over three hours--

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and a little over an hour or so
on Netflix.

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So in total,

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I'm spending over five hours
every day

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in front of a screen,

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and that's not counting
text messages

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or listening to music.

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That's literally
a quarter of my day, every day.

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So what's all this screen time
doing to me?

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Well, I asked who I always ask,
Google,

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and the results fell
into two buckets.

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The first bucket

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blamed smartphones, video games,
and social media

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for increases in depression,
anxiety, and even obesity.

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The second bucket said
that screen use

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might help improve
how we feel about ourselves

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by keeping us connected
with people.

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So what does
the scientific research say?

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Is all this screen time
really bad for us?

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# #

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Okay, first things first.

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"Screen time" as a term
isn't that useful,

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because it doesn't really
tell you

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what you're doing on the screen.

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It's kind of like if someone
asks you what you had for lunch,

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and you say, "Food."

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That doesn't really provide
any real info.

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And not all screen time
is created equal.

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Context matters.

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Spending four hours
creating a video for YouTube

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is way different than spending
four hours watching cat videos.

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How you feel about and how you
process each of those situations

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won't be the same.

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So lumping them
under screen time

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doesn't make much sense.

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If researchers want
to figure out

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what spending so much time
on our screens is doing to us,

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they need to break down
a few variables.

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What's the specific
screen activity?

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Are we passively scrolling
and looking at pictures,

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or are we commenting
and posting?

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How long and how often
are we on the screen?

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Because there's
so much to untangle,

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the research is kind of
all over the place.

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You can find individual studies
that support and contradict

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just about every conclusion
linking screen time and health.

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To quote the director of the
National Institutes of Health,

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the research is "quite limited,
has not been conclusive,

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and further study is needed."

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That's why it's crucial
to look over a body of research

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to identify trends.

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All right, so let's get to it.

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Our digital lives can take
a physical toll on us,

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and I'll be the first to admit

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I'm usually on my phone
right before I go to bed,

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even though multiple studies
have shown

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that that leads to bad sleep.

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And we all know what can happen
without enough sleep--

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concentrating on things is hard,
you can get irritable.

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I sort of walk around
like a zombie,

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and sometimes me no make
when I talk I... sense?

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Hmm.

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And it's not just me.

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In 1991, 26% of teens
were getting less

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than the doctor-recommended
seven hours of sleep a night.

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Today, that number is over 40%.

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Now, that doesn't mean you can
place the blame on screens.

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But that same study
did find that teens

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who spent five hours a day
online

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were 50% more likely
to not sleep enough

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than those who only spent
an hour online each day.

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Hmm.

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I'm skeptical, though.

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Who are those people that say

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they only spend an hour online
a day,

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and why are they lying
to researchers?

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Doesn't make sense,
doesn't add up.

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Some researchers even
use the term "addiction"

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when talking about how we
interact with our devices.

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Whether it's video games

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or waiting for a like
on an Instagram post,

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we get caught in short-term,
dopamine-driven feedback loops

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where we get
a quick pleasure boost,

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but then constantly crave
the next one.

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Now, there's a lot of debate
on whether or not this stuff

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is a bona fide addiction,
like gambling.

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And if you want to learn
more about that,

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check out our video

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that looks into whether or not
video game addiction is real.

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One study in 2017 found

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that the more time people spend
in front of screens,

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the more it affected
their well-being.

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Their chances of developing
depression and suicidal thoughts

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went up.

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It was all the ammo
the news media needed

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to fuel the panic
about screen time.

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But that one study
is just one study.

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Another group of researchers
came along,

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looked at the same data,
and asked,

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"Is there really a link between
screen time and depression?

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And if so,
how strong is that link?"

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They found that screen time
is correlated with depression,

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but that correlation
is really small.

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In fact, it was the same
as eating potatoes regularly.

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The correlation between
wearing glasses and depression

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was even stronger.

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And we're not seeing headlines

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worrying about
potatoes and glasses

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ruining an entire generation.

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So maybe screen time in general
is less important than we think.

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The connection
between screen time and health

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gets a little bit clearer

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when you look at how people
are using their screens.

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It's not just about quantity,
it's also about the quality.

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Passive screen time--
things like watching TV

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or scrolling
through your Instagram feed--

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is usually associated
with the negative stuff

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like depression, moodiness,
anxiety, and even laziness.

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Active screen time--

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stuff that engages you
physically or cognitively--

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can actually be helpful.

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Screens also allow us
to stay connected with people.

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With technology like FaceTime,
I can talk to my best friend,

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who's on the other side
of the country right now.

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Now, sure, some people
have to deal

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with feeling overwhelmed
because of trauma,

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or feeling pressure to only post
a highlight reel of themselves

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to make them
look good to others.

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But in many studies,

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a majority of teens
say that social media

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mainly helps the relationships

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they already have
with their friends,

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and almost 60%
have met a new friend, like me.

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I just recently visited
a homey in Canada

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who I've known online
for, like, seven years.

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So that was pretty awesome.

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Shout-out to Shannon.

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And when you look at stuff

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like multi-player video games,
Twitch streams, or reddit,

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wandering around online
allows you to find your tribe.

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If you don't quite fit in
where you live,

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or you live in a small
or isolated community,

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quality screen time
might be essential

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to keeping you sane.

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So what do you think?

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What screen activities
do you value,

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and what do you want to cut out?

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Let us know in the comments
below.

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Oh, and we want
to give a shout-out

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to Common Sense Education,

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who we collabbed with
on this episode.

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Thanks a lot, guys,

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and we have two more episodes
with them coming out,

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so stay tuned for those.

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And if you're a teacher,
check us out on KQED Learn.

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Till next time, guys--
peace out