Teen sleep cycles are being disrupted by smartphones, with more than a third waking up to check their devices during the night — and their parents are hardly better, a new survey finds.
Common Sense Media polled 500 parents and 500 12- to 18-year-olds nationwide, discovering that 36 percent of teens and 26 percent of adults wake up to check their mobile device at least once during the night.
“Lots of times parents freak out about the amount of time kids spend on screens,” Michael Robb, Common Sense Media’s senior director of research, tells the Wall Street Journal. “For lots of things, they may be unnecessarily worrying. In this case, disrupting sleep is a very legitimate concern.”
A majority 62 percent of parents also keep their phones within reach of their bed, and 12 percent keep their phone in bed with them. For kids, 29 percent cuddle up to their device in bed.
Within five minutes of waking up, 23 percent of parents and 32 percent of teens check their phones (not including using it as an alarm).
ADDICTION & ARGUING
Nearly half of parents — 45 percent — say they feel “addicted” to their mobile devices, and a quarter of parents argue with their kids about mobile devices daily.
Adults also report being increasingly unhappy with the amount of time they’re spending on phones, with 52 percent of parents saying they’re on their devices too much, up from 29 percent in 2016. For teens, data is trending in the opposite direction, with 47 percent saying they spend the right amount of time on devices — up from 29 percent in 2016.
Phone addiction and nighttime mobile use has contributed to a rise in sleep texting, with some even making business deals and online shopping while unconscious. Some phone games are event offering rewards to players who snooze.
It’s also common knowledge that sleep is vital to physically and mentally function — and not getting enough can have serious health repercussions.
While Americans can’t put down their phones in the name of a good night’s rest, one in five would give up sex for some shuteye.