Updated: Feb 13, 2024 / 04:47 AM CST
A visitor tries out an Apple iPhone 7 on the first day of sales of the new phone at the Berlin Apple store on September 16, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
(NewsNation) — Fentanyl isn’t the only addiction crisis plaguing the country.
The average American now spends four hours and 37 minutes looking at their phone every day, according to a report from the Harmony Healthcare IT organization. That amount of time quickly adds up to about a day every week, six days every month and 70 days every year. And almost half the country actually feels their phone use meets the criteria of an “addiction.”
According to a Stanford study, children are getting their first phone around the age of 12. If the average life expectancy of an American is 76 years old, at current phone usage rates that would mean the average U.S. citizen will spend 12 years staring at a hand-held device.
It’s not that Americans don’t see this as a problem; more than half the population says they’re “too dependent” on their smartphones, and four out of 10 are trying to cut back on their screen time. It’s just that many doubt they can summon up the stamina to do so.
Harmony says you can cut down on screen time by:
Doing activities that don’t require a phone. Putting the phone away while around others. Using the “do not disturb” feature.
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