To: ​College Students in the United States

From: ​Katherine Whittle

Date: ​April 15, 2020

Subject: ​Screen Time Usage Since the COVID-19 Outbreak

Link to infographic: ​https://infogram.com/screen-time-1hxr4zqlxjp54yo?live

The year of 2020 has been an interesting one so far, even only three and a half months
into it. In mid-March, the COVID-19 virus was declared a national pandemic. This
resulted in schools and universities closing, travel being banned, citizens losing jobs
and stores and restaurants shutting down. The United States population has been
advised to social distance, limit travel, and even self quarantine to limit the spread of
this virus. Because of these astounding events, many students have been moved to
online classes, and have found themselves with a lot of free time on their hands.

Free time can be good and bad. This time of social distancing allows for us to relax and
regroup and catch up on things like sleep or a hobby. But many students have found
themselves consuming most of their time staring at a screen, whether it be a
smartphone, tablet, laptop, or television, this helps the time pass by. Through a survey
taken by over 200 Penn State freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors, I was able
to collect data on things such as most used applications, bedtime, screen time per
month in 2020, and more. I found that the majority of Penn State students have found
that their screen time has increased significantly since classes have been switched to
the online platform. This screen time increase has resulted in an increase of presence
on social media platforms. The most used platform according to students is Instagram.
Social media has its good aspects and its drawbacks, but it can only be good in
moderation. Compared to the months that students were taking in person classes,
screen time average has increased from 5-7 hours to 10-12 hours a day. Students have
also found that this increase in screen time has affected other parts of their life and daily
routine, including sleep. Many students have found themselves not being able to go to
sleep until midnight or later, because they are staying up on their phone scrolling
through social media or watching Netflix.

Screen time has become an issue for students during this time of social distancing.
Although everything is good in moderation, it does not seem likely that most students
are using their technology for fun in moderation at all. Some healthy and fun alternatives
to using our devices would be taking a walk or riding a bike, doing a puzzle, picking up a
new hobby like knitting or baking, and many more. There are features on many phones
that allow you to set limits on how much you use certain apps every day or you can just
use your own self control to limit screen time. It is easy to get sucked into the depths of
social media, but with a little bit of determination, we can come out of quarantine with a
fresh mind, well slept, and possibly with a new hobby.