Recently I asked a hardworking, though often distracted, high school student named Amina how many text messages she received that day during school.
Her answer? 106.
Each text received a response. Two-hundred and twelve tiny messages read and felt, or composed and sent. Links clicked; short videos watched. The perfect song found. Snapchat streaks edited and shared.
Assuming 10 to 15 seconds are lost with each text, Amina skips school for about 45 minutes — roughly the equivalent of one class period — each day without ever leaving her seat.
Amina is in the majority. And the numbers are shocking.
"Throughout each class I teach, phones are nearly continuously beeping, flashing and vibrating." https://t.co/cy0YrLQlNd cc: @jean_twenge
— Cognoscenti (@cogwbur) April 3, 2018