The Case for Less Screen Time: How Technology Can Detract From Life
Written by Alex Fisher
Thumbnail & Banner Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash.com
As a university student, you likely spend a significant portion of your day looking at screens. Students attending post-secondary institutions can spend more than half their waking day on screens according to various studies, something we have touched upon in previous SMU Journal articles. With all that screen time, however, have you ever thought about how it may be affecting your physical and mental health as well as your overall well-being?
In this article we’ll be answering this question and taking a brief look at the many ways that excess screen time can detract from your life.
Mental Health
The most obvious impact of too much screen time is the effects it has on your mental health. Recent studies have shown that spending too much of their day on screens can negatively impact children’s mental health, affect their academic performance, and delay development. While university students are, of course, not children, these studies already establish a concerning precedent for how screens can affect us.
In fact, many of the same concerns regarding children using screens excessively are also present in adults who spend significant portions of their days on their phones or computers. A large-scale study conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic found that an overabundance of screen time was connected to a number of negative effects on memory and learning, brain development, and overall mental health.
Smaller, more recent studies have had similar findings. Having more screen time at the cost of spending time outdoors in natural environments was linked to higher levels of anxiety, stress, and depression. Another study connected more time on devices with lower self-esteem, greater levels of depression, and reduced sleep quality among teenagers and young adults. Further studies linked smartphone use with addictive behaviors as well as lower cognitive performance and difficulties in communicating.
There are other concerns with high amounts of screen time that can indirectly affect your mental health. For instance, a person in Canada will spend an average of three hours and fifty-four minutes on social media every day, according to a report from January 2025, and the North American average is just over two hours. The North American average equates to over six years of a person’s life spent scrolling on social media. All this time is used on services that are notoriously problematic for mental health which can cause body image and self-esteem issues, addictive and compulsive behaviors, and make people susceptible to cyberbullying. It is worth noting that social media can also be beneficial when used in moderation: it can help people find communities and access support networks that may not otherwise be available to them. It’s important to keep in mind the potential mental health issues that may arise from spending too much time on screens, however, even when accessing these communities and support networks.
Physical Health
The effects of excessive screen time are not just limited to your mental health; spending all day on your phone or laptop can also affect your physical health.
While the commonly-held belief that the blue light from screens can damage your eyes is a myth, it can cause something called computer vision syndrome, or CVS. CVS has a few symptoms including blurred or double vision, headaches, and eye strain, but currently, there is no proof that it causes any long-term damage. Just because it doesn’t cause long-term symptoms, however, does not make the short-term health effects any less real or detrimental. CVS is relatively easy to recover from. By reducing screen time and applying the 20-20-20 rule you can ease the strain on your eyes.
Far more serious than CVS, spending lots of time on screens promotes what is known as a sedentary lifestyle: too much time sitting or lying down and too little exercise. The health risks of such a lifestyle range from the obvious to the obscure: increased risk of obesity and weight gain, loss of muscle strength, increased risk of heart disease, weaker bones, and even increased risk of some cancers.
Further effects of using computers and phones too much include neck, back, and shoulder pain. Laptop and phone usage have also been linked to reduced fertility and reduced sperm viability in those with male genitalia. There may even be a correlation between screen time and brain-related ailments such as Parkinson’s and dementia. While there are ways to counter some of these effects—standing desks can help with reducing pain and increasing exercise, blue-light glasses may help reduce eye strain (though their effectiveness is debated), and desks or cooling pads can reduce fertility loss—by far the best way to avoid these physical symptoms and risks is to spend less time staring at a phone or laptop and more time being active.
Other Effects
Excess screen time can be a drain on more than just your health. It can also affect your relationships with others, most notably with your significant other. A 2019 study conducted on 173 couples suggested that when one or both of the partners were spending too much time on screens, it led to increased conflict and lower overall relationship quality, even inciting feelings of jealousy and insecurity. Furthermore, spending more time on a screen than with your partner can lead to a lack of emotional intimacy and feelings of neglect and loneliness. Overall, it’s clear that choosing your phone over your partner will lead to both of you feeling inadequate in the relationship.
Spending too much time on your phone or your computer can also impact your academics. While there is some debate on how this impact may arise and whether it is direct or indirect, the general consensus among researchers is that there is some level of correlation between increased screen time and reduced academic performance. There is no doubt that using your devices to study makes it easier to be distracted and that your focus may be decreased as a result of the other negative effects of excessive screen time.
Reducing the time you spend on your devices each day can have a variety of positive impacts on your life. It can obviously improve your physical and mental health, as we discussed previously, but less screen time can also improve your grades and the relationships you have with those around you. Less time on your devices can even help you make new connections and build new communities with people that you may have otherwise never met. You’ll also find that you have more time to work on that assignment you’ve been procrastinating or study for that upcoming exam, or maybe even just more time to spend hanging out with your friends.
While reducing screen time as a student is undoubtedly challenging due to how modern courses are delivered, it’s important to consider the effects it has on your health and well-being. While it may not be feasible to have zero screen time each day, especially if you’re doing a research project or working in addition to taking courses, taking a bit more time each day to exercise, socialize, or finish coursework will benefit your health, your grades, and you’ll even have more time to contribute to the Saint Mary’s University community.
Now that you’ve finished this article, consider closing your laptop screen, turning off your phone, and taking a half-hour walk in Point Pleasant Park. Your body and mind will both thank you for it.