Every Sunday morning, Apple is kind enough to send me a notification telling me how much time I have spend on my phone that week.

After a long, peaceful slumber, it’s a rude awakening when I read that my screen time was up ten percent from last week, averaging six hours and 11 minutes per day.

According to Common Sense Media, teens spend an average of nine hours of screen time per day, and 50 percent of teens believe that they are addicted to their phones.

Cell phone addiction is a societal epidemic, particularly for teens. It has become so much of an issue that schools, including PA, have limited social media use and internet access for students’ personal devices.

For teens, their developing brains need human contact to form interpersonal skills. In short, spending nine hours a day glued to a screen is creating an alienated and introverted generation.

When teens are spending more time on their phones than going out and watching a movie or spending time with their friends, there is a problem, according to digital detox expert Holland Haiis.

It’s an addiction.

But 50 percent teens still don’t see it as problematic.  

“That is the big problem between the generations,” said junior Kaylea Platt. “They didn’t grow up with this type of technology. We grew up with it and know how to use it. It is a resource.”

Another survey revealed that 80 percent of teens check their phones at least hourly and 72 percent feel the need to immediately respond to the notifications and messages they had received from social media.

Still, the percentage of smartphone users who would actually be classified as addicted is estimated between 10-12 percent, according to the director of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction Dr. David Greenfield.

Symptoms of cell phone addiction include: a need to use the cell phone more to achieve the same desired effect, failed attempts to use cell phone less often, turning to cell phones when experiencing anxiety or depression, excessive use with loss of sense of time or anger when cell phone or network is unreachable.

In a survey of cell phone users, Dr. Greenfield found that around 90 percent of Americans fall in the category of overusing, misusing or abusing their devices.

While cell phone addiction is debatable, most people acknowledge that there is a problem.

“If my phone was taken away, or if I was in a situation where it wasn’t okay to use it, I would be fine,” said junior Sarah Newton. “But if I had it in front of me I would be extremely tempted to use it. If it’s in front of me I am going to use it.”