As the clock strikes 2:26, a bell rings and a flood of students rushes through New Albany High School’s front doors. Just like their peers all around the country, each of them has different interests, different friends, a different life, but each of them is glued to a screen. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average American teenager spends 8 hours and 39 minutes on their phone each and every day – roughly a third of their life! 

Now, this isn’t to say that I am any better. My screentime last week alone was high enough that I won’t include it in this article. However, even though I am part of the problem, I can at least acknowledge that there is a problem in the first place; phone dependence nationally is climbing (especially among teens), and in many cases it is not treated as the behavioral addiction that it is.

Adolescents (people between the ages of 13 and 18) are particularly susceptible to cell phone addiction, and it can lead to increased risk of depression and anxiety, as well as a decrease in attention span and the ability to regulate emotions, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Some argue that cell phone dependence isn’t a big enough issue to warrant a response as strong as, say, a gambling addiction or alcoholism. It is only a phone, after all, and there are admittedly lots of pros to them as well as cons. They allow people to communicate with peers and family, have access to a world of information, and can help people be safer in case of emergencies. However, the risk of addiction should be taken seriously.

Using a smartphone, like drug usage, slot machines, or substance abuse, can feed into the part of your brain that releases dopamine, a chemical designed to give you a mood boost. The accessibility to the short-term dopamine boost that a notification, a like, or a text gives people (especially young people) creates a feedback cycle that can keep you from getting dopamine when you are separate from your phone. This works to keep you practically glued to your phone at all times. When combined with the fact that addictions formed before your brain is fully developed are much harder to break, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that cell phone dependence amongst high school students is a big problem.

However, that’s not to say that this is a hopeless problem. Just last month, lawmakers in France voted to approve a ban on social media for children under 15. It would be carried out in September, at the start of the 2026-27 school year. A similar law is being passed in Australia to ban the social media accounts of Australian citizens under the age of 16. 

Laws like this help to show which way the wind is blowing in terms of public opinion towards teenagers and their phones, and a similar law could help to lower screen time amongst American high schoolers. Another option could be more support for those with phone addictions in the form of therapy – behavioral therapy and setting stricter boundaries have been proven to help break dependence. Whatever strategy is taken, it is critical that solutions be found to keep our phones from consuming our lives.