Common Sense Media released a new research report revealing that teens are constantly receiving and fielding notifications on their smartphones. According to the report, “Constant Companion: A Week in the Life of a Young Person’s Smartphone Use,” over half of participants received 237 or more notifications per day. The barrage of notifications, along with smartphone use during school days and nighttime, combines to create a powerful yet complicated relationship between teens and their phones.
The new report fills a gap in understanding around how teens actually use their smartphones, combining data voluntarily collected from kids’ own phones with feedback about the data collected from Common Sense Media’s Youth Advisory Council. The conversations provide insights into the push and pull that adolescents feel with their phones, including the apps they love, the pressure they feel to respond, and the strategies they use to balance their smartphone use. For example, while TikTok was one of the most popular and longest-duration apps for teens in the study, a Youth Council member said that “the algorithm for TikTok is just way more addicting … it draws you in more.”
“This report makes it abundantly clear that teens are struggling to manage their phone use, which is taking a serious toll on their ability to focus and overall mental health,” said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media. “Young people need more support from family members and educators, as well as clear guardrails from the technologists who are intentionally designing these devices to be addictive, at the expense of kids’ well-being.”
