If you have ever set foot into Derby High School, you know that everybody is always on their phones.

Whether they are listening to music, playing games, or on social media, you have to admit that the amount of screen time students have is very extensive.

It’s not just our school, though.

“(Phones are) typically not allowed in class. Some teachers are really strict about it, but others don’t really care,” sophomore Aubrey Murphy, an East High student, said.

According to The New York Times, more than 90% of schools banned or limited cell phone use due to bullying and overall disturbance.

According to the school handbook, cell phone use is allowed in the hallways, during lunch, and whenever teacher permission is given.

Despite those rules, that doesn’t stop uninvited phone use.

Adding computers to schools a while back already made it too much. 

However, adults nowadays seemingly have more screen time because most work primarily on a computer.

“With phones, people don’t concentrate in class and don’t really learn anything,” senior exchange student Artur Stordel said.

Stordel is from Germany and says that phone rules in school are very different from those in American schools; students aren’t allowed to listen to music at all.

At Stordel’s school, they are not allowed to have phones out at all, including at lunch and in the hallways.

If someone is caught with a phone out, teachers can take it until the end of the day, and parents come to get it.

I find it ironic that I am even writing about this; if you know me, you know I always have my phone in hand.

I am in no way proud of it, and I wish I weren’t like that, but I still think it has ruined many people’s minds, physically and mentally.

I just took a break to be on my phone. Not intentionally, it just happens. 

I find it funny, but concerning that we take breaks from looking at one screen to go look at another one.

There are definitely many apps and websites that take people’s attention away.

The main culprit? TikTok.

TikTok is an app where anyone can post short videos where you can scroll to the next one instantly, creating massive problems with people’s overall attention span and constant need to be stimulated or overstimulated.

According to meltwater.com, the app is projected to have over 1.7 billion users by 2027, almost a quarter of the world’s population.

Another harmful app is Instagram, which has become a hotspot for making people insecure about themselves because others look and make their lives look so perfect in their posts and stories.

Lots of people in relationships don’t even talk anymore. They even break up over text. 

I can’t remember the last time I heard of people breaking up in person.

It’s made overall communication and social anxiety so much worse.

Phones are definitely not all bad. I have so many memories and awesome things to look back on that I can see on my phone.

I admit that smartphones have saved many people in many different situations and are usually more helpful than a normal flip phone.

One good reason for having a smartphone is you have access to infinite knowledge and news. 

Having access to news is extremely important. You need to know what is going on in the world and what is happening around you.

It’s also really helpful in other events, like amber alerts.

I always come across old videos from the 90’s of kids in school. They all look so happy. Not a phone in sight.

I honestly wish that smartphones were never invented. That way, I would never miss it.

I do think that it is smart to always have a phone where you can only call on you, just in case of emergency, but the amount of terrible things that have come from smartphones is overall astronomical, infuriating, and just wrong.

While the technology of it all is so cool, it would have been best if smartphones were never invented.