Vices. Everyone's got 'em, whether it be TV, video games, or texting. If you fantasize about sparkly teenage vampires or suffer withdrawal symptoms if you don't have a controller in your hands, it's probably safe to say you have your own vice--a time wasting device that can disable your concentration, waste your energy, and zap your social life. But what, exactly, is the problem with that, as long as you can fit it into your schedule? Well, for one, many respected physicians and psychaitrists alike stand by the research that has been done to suggest too much "screen time" in general, i.e. TV, video games, or even texting can be detrimental to the physical and mental health of adolescents.

 

Adults are often heard teasing their children about how often they text message. We've all heard the morally rich stories, always starting with the phrase "When I was your age..." and then they start prattling on about the ways technology- and texting specifically- is limiting the amount of personal interaction between people. And they may be on to something. According to the survey taken during various lunch shifts at Cameron High School last week, texting is by far the most popular past time for students, winning with a total of twenty four out of sixty survey sheets.  The runner-up was video games, with ten. So, statistically speaking, 2.4 out of every six students at CHS are spending up to "ninety percent of their time" - as accordiong to freshman Chloe Rybacki and Sophmore Megan Risseuw- looking at their cell phone screens. 

Likewise, that makes one out of every six students who are playing Call of Duty, Bio Shock, or Grand Theft Auto for up to 15 hours weekly. Sophmore Alex Williams didn't even know how much time he actually spent playing video games. His answer was "A lot. Sorry, I lose track of time when I'm playing."

 

Another time killer seems to be reading. Reading beat out television by one survey. Granted, the reading material wasn't specified, but this seems to bode well for the student population. Many students who chose reading mentioned taking a break from reality in their reasons why. Senior Lee Weirich wrote, "I can go to different places, and get a chance to use my imagination." Lee also wrote that he spends about one-third of his spare time reading.

 

As for TV, it may be safe to say that it is slowly but surely losing it's addictive hold. Many students who chose television wrote they only devote one or two hours to it daily. And that's a good thing. But, as this survey has shown, the attention of CHS students has shifted from soap operas and cartoons to voicemails, avatars, and nearly illegible shorthand.