**Clifton High School Students Take on Screen Time Challenge**
At Clifton High School in Clifton, New Jersey, senior Gianna Colon is a three-sport athlete, sophomore Sebastian Fazio loves math and baseball, and sophomore Hamza Ramach participates in band and serves as a goalie on the school hockey team. What do they have in common? They are all productive students who also struggle with managing their screen time.
Colon told CBS News that when she spends too much time scrolling on her phone, it makes her “feel drained.” According to these students, they can spend anywhere from four to 13 hours per day on their phones, with bedtime being the biggest downfall.
“Sometimes, when I’m going to bed, I watch for a little bit, but then I get a little addicted,” said Fazio. Ramach admitted that he doesn’t believe it is possible for him to cut down on screen time on his own.
To tackle this challenge, the three agreed to avoid taking their phones to bed for one week and to try different tools to reduce screen time during the day.
Gianna Colon tested out Brick, a square-shaped external device that can be used to block specific apps. The device can be left at home, and to unblock the distracting apps, the phone must be tapped against Brick.
Hamza Ramach tried ScreenZen, a free app that takes a mindful approach to limiting screen time by asking users to wait before opening distracting apps.
Sebastian Fazio was shown how to use grayscale mode on his phone, which removes color and turns the screen to black and white. “It does not look good,” Fazio said when he saw Instagram in grayscale. “It takes away all the joy in it.”
Three days into the experiment, the teens recorded video diaries about their experiences.
“I’ve been doing other things like diamond painting,” Colon said in her video. Ramach shared that he had “been focusing more on school work, less distractions, more sleep.” Fazio mentioned he had “been more energetic waking up,” and also felt like he had “been communicating more with family and friends.”
A week into the challenge, their reviews remained positive.
Colon said Brick “definitely” removed the temptation to use certain apps because there was a physical barrier, making it impossible to unlock them while at school. “It was honestly pretty good,” she added. “It definitely helped me be more productive without my phone.”
Ramach described ScreenZen as “great.” Although it was tempting to unlock the apps, he stuck with the app’s guidelines. His father even noticed a positive change in his behavior. “I wanted to go to practice in the morning,” Ramach said. “He was like, ‘In the morning, what?'”
Fazio called his experience with grayscale mode “pretty good,” noting that his screen use dropped significantly — from three hours to just 20 minutes per day. He said the difference “felt great.”
Asked what she wanted other kids to know after taking on this challenge, Colon said: “You don’t need to depend on your phone for everything.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/3-new-jersey-teens-experiment-curb-screen-time/
