Smartphones ruining sleep

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Your phone is a magnificent tool. You are capable of being able to see someone across the world and you have the world’s information at your finger tips. Is it possible that it would ever try and harm you? Well, yes there were the Samsung phones blowing up, but besides that. Something as simple as looking at your phone’s screen could harm you.

I think that we are all a little guilty of using our phone before going to bed. Whether you are watching or movie or making a Facebook post, you probably use it. Staring at your phone screen will make it so that it takes longer to fall asleep. According to a study, using your phone before you go to bed will ruin sleep efficiency and longer time to fall asleep. Apparently, it has to do with like the blue light from screens so this would also mean that using your TV and laptop before bed would effect your sleeping habits. This blue light suppresses the hormone in your brain called melatonin. Ohio State University did an experiment where they monitored 532 students whose ages ranged from 18-39. They had an average cell phone use time of 46 minutes. Using these electronics before bed was positively linked to insomnia. Better alternatives would be something like read a book, or go work out.

What other hidden dangers do our phones have? Probably not much, but we should still look into it more. I think that we should be careful with anything that we look at for long periods of time or put near our face.

This describes how your phone can be keeping you awake and give a more visual way of looking at the topic.

3 thoughts on “Smartphones ruining sleep

  1. Taylor M Lender

    In addition to the blue light, I always find myself wanting to watch one more episode, read one more post, or scroll to the next page. During the week, I do not set aside much entertainment time, and I think I get the most entertainment on my phone before bed. I think this need for more entertainment keeps me and others up too.

  2. Emma G Schadler

    This post reminds me of the hamster experiment we learned about near the beginning of the semester, and Andrew’s message at the end in which he suggested that if there is a possibility something with as small a consequence as turning your television off at night will stave off depression, why wouldn’t you do it? Although I don’t agree with older generations believing smart phones and other new technologies are ruining society, I believe there may be a connection between smart phones and depression in teens. However, I think that this connection is small, or simply the gateway that is allowing other, more harmful factors to take hold. For example, I think people would benefit from turning their phones off or designating a time of night when they promise themselves they won’t use it. But I think our generation is indeed smarter than the previous generation, only not in the traditional sense. I believe becoming astute with technology in general has allowed us the ability to sneak around older generations, our superiors, and even the ability to fool ourselves. We have become the masters of lee-ways and ‘multi-tasking,’ which we also learned was actually not very helpful.

    So while smart phones are not the route cause of ruining our sleep, the mindset our generation has developed regarding technology and getting things done quickly to limit our stress could in fact be backfiring on us exponentially. Though I’m not a believer in traditionalism, I think we should all wake up a bit and go to sleep.

  3. Sabrina Chan

    Hmm, this blog post is interesting. It’s well-written, but perhaps you should add some more material pertaining to what we learned in class.

    Anyway, another negative effect of smart phones I found is in this article https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tariq_Soomro/publication/236669025_Impact_of_Smartphone's_on_Society/links/00b7d518ce4de2509d000000.pdf We’ve also spoke about it in class. Basically, the use of smartphones isn’t just a distraction to the user–it’s also a distraction to the people around the user. I’m guilty of using smartphones in class, but they should honestly be used in moderation. I think they should be avoided at night to get more sleep, which can help you focus the next day in class. They should also not be used in class for obvious reasons. I wonder if we have begun adapting to the blue light and will no longer be experiencing sleeplessness due to smartphone usage in the future?

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