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Using surveys via online and phone calls the TIME mobility poll collected its data from over eight different countries, asking multiple questions while easily displaying their findings in neat tables. This has provided a large range of information and insight into just how often people use electronic devices

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Audience.
This article does a great job in explaining, laying out the data, and backing up of the fact that teens use more technological devices than other demographics. This may come to no surprise, however, now there is data and stats that can backup this widely accepted theory.

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Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech

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Introduction

Teenagers have previously lagged behind adults in their ownership of cell phones, but several years of survey data collected by the Pew Internet & American Life Project show that those ages 12-17 are closing the gap in cell phone ownership. The Project first began surveying teenagers about their mobile phones in its 2004 Teens and Parents project when a survey showed that 45% of teens had a cell phone. Since that time, mobile phone use has climbed steadily among teens ages 12 to 17 - to 63% in fall of 2006 and then to 71% in early 2008.

In comparison, 77% of all adults (and 88% of parents) had a cell phone or other mobile device at a similar point in 2008. Cell phone ownership among adults has since risen to 85%, based on the results of our most recent tracking survey of adults conducted in April 2009. The Project is currently conducting a survey of teens and their parents and will be releasing the new figures in early 2010.

We went back to our databanks in light of the intriguing findings about adult mobile phone use in two of our recent reports, and to help lay the ground work for our current project on youth and mobile phones. Among our questions: How does teen cell phone use stack up against their adoption of other technologies? Our surveys show that while 71% of teens owned cell phones in 2008:

77% of teens own a game console like an Xbox or a PlayStation

74% of teens own an iPod or mp3 player

60% of teens "own" a desktop or laptop computer

55% of teens own a portable gaming device.

The computer ownership number has been stable since 2006, but it is somewhat complicated because it is sometimes hard for teens and their parents to sort out who owns what technology in a household. Cell phones and mp3 players are personal and heavily personalized devices and tend to be "owned" by one individual. Game-related devices are more likely to be conceived of by families as "owned" by the children in the household, while computers are more likely to be owned collectively by the family, or by the adults in the household.

Who has a mobile phone?

Among teens, age is the most important variable in mobile phone ownership. Older teens are much more likely to own phones than younger teens, and the largest increase occurs at age 14, right at the transition between middle and high school. Among 12-13 year olds, 52% had a cell phone in 2008. Mobile phone ownership jumped to 72% at age 14 in that survey, and by the age of 17 more than eight in ten teens (84%) had their own cell phone.

Beyond age, there are few differences in mobile phone ownership by other personal characteristics. Girls and boys are equally likely to own a phone and there are no differences by race or ethnicity in phone ownership. However, there are small differences in phone ownership by socio-economic status; in families with the highest levels of income and education, teens are more likely than in less well-off families to have a cell phone.

Internet users are more likely than non-users to have a cell phone; however half of teens who do not go online do own a mobile phone.

How are teens using phones, mobile or otherwise?

For teens as a whole, landline phones remain the most widespread method of communication with friends. Fully 88% of all teens - regardless of whether or not they own a cell phone - say that they talk to their friends on a landline phone at least occasionally. By comparison, 67% of all teens say they talk to friends on a cell phone, and 58% of all teens say they have ever sent a text message.

When we look specifically at teen cell phone owners (71% of the teen population in the 2008 survey), 94% of them have used their mobile phones to call friends and 76% have sent text messages. Still, landlines have not lost their relevance for teens with cell phones; 87% of teenage cell phone users still talk to their friends on landlines.

Perhaps more illuminating with regard to what teens really enjoy are the Project's findings on daily telephone related activities, and how these stack up against other types of communication. For daily activities, cell phone-based communication is dominant, with nearly 2 in 5 teens sending text messages every day. Voice calling on cell phones is nearly as prevalent, as more than a third (36%) of all teens (and 51% of those with cell phones) talk to their friends on the cell phone every day.

Landline phones are also important in teens' daily lives, with 32% of teens saying they use them to make calls on a daily basis. A considerable number of teens with cell phones continue to use landlines daily and at the same rate as their cell phone-less counterparts, with 33% of cell owners making a call on a landline each day. Teens still speak and interact in person, too. About one in three teens (29%) spend time with friends in person outside of school on a daily basis.

The three other primarily text-based forms of communication stand at the bottom of the list of daily communication activities. A bit more than a quarter (26%) of all teens send messages (emails, instant messages, group messages) through social networking sites - and 43% of teens who use social networks send messages daily. Similarly, another 26% of teens send and receive instant messages on a daily basis and 16% send email every day.

One gap in our data relates to the use of mobile phones or other mobile devices (like PDAs or smartphones) to go online. We first asked the question back in 2004 and have not repeated it since. In 2004, we found that a tiny number of teens use their mobile devices to use the internet. At that point in time, 45% of teens had a cell phone and 10% of them said they used it to go online. That same year 7% of teens had a PDA (Palm Pilot, Blackberry, Sidekick) and just two percent of them used it to go online. We hope to collect more data on this topic in an upcoming youth survey scheduled for release in 2010.

How teens use voice calling

Girls ages 12-17 are more likely than boys to use any kind of phone for voice calling. More than a third (36%) of girls say that they use a landline phone daily, compared with 27% of boys. Similarly, 55% of girls with cell phones talk daily on their cell phone, while 47% of cell phone-owning boys report the same.

The older the teen, the more likely she uses her phone frequently. Older teens use them to talk to friends on a daily basis; younger teens tend to use mobile phones to call pals a few times or less per week. More than seven in ten 17-year-olds with phones talk to friends on their cell phones daily, while just 28% of 12-year-olds with phones say the same. A large percentage of phone-owning younger teens ages 12-14 say that they talk to friends at least once a week - 18% of those ages 12-14 report weekly cell phone use, while 10% of those ages 15-17 do.

Landline phones do not show these differences in frequency of use by age - older and younger teens are just about as likely to talk every day. If anything, landline phone use shows a slight increase during the mid-teen years (ages 14-16) and then drops off again as teens near the end of high school. Face to face conversations outside of school rise modestly with age, from 22% of 12 year olds having them daily to 38% of 17 year-olds reporting daily face-to-face interactions outside of school. Nevertheless, this increase by age pales in comparison to the growth in daily mobile phone conversations from age 12-17 among cell phone users.

How teens use text messaging

Use of text messaging by teens has increased since 2006, both in overall likelihood of use and in frequency of use. In 2006, 51% of all teens, regardless of cell phone ownership, had ever sent a text message, while 58% had done so by 2008. Similarly, daily use of text messaging is also up, from 27% of teens using text messaging daily in 2006 to 38% texting daily in 2008.

Text messages aren't just sent via phones - texts may be sent on desktops or laptops as well, generally through email clients. And as teens migrate away from standalone email to messaging through social networks, these online networks are often vehicles for the sending of text-based short messages by teens. Among social network users, 54% of teens on those sites send IMs or text messages to friends through the social networking system.

Girls are more likely than boys to send and receive text messages frequently, as are older teens ages 15-17. More than 2 in 5 girls (42%) send text messages to friends daily, while about a third (34%) of boys do the same. The difference between younger and older teens is even starker - 25% of teens ages 12-14 send text messages daily compared 51% of teens ages 15-17. As with phone ownership and other uses of mobile devices, there are no racial or ethnic differences when it comes to text messaging. However, teens from wealthier households are slightly more likely to text message frequently compared with teens from lower income households; 42% of teens from households earning more than $50,000 annually send texts daily, compared with 33% of teens from homes earning less than $50,000 per year.

Other mobile devices - portable gaming devices

Even though the focus of this piece has been on mobile phones, teens have access to other mobile devices that connect them to other people and other networks. The most prevalent of these devices are mobile gaming devices like the Nintendo DS and DSi and the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP).

Mobile gaming devices are owned predominantly by younger teens (those ages 12-14). Two-thirds (67%) of 12-14 year olds own a portable gaming device, compared with 44% of teens ages 15 to 17. The most notable drop occurs at age 14, typically a time of transition between middle and high school for many teens.

These mobile gaming devices are also more likely to be owned by boys, with 61% of boys owning one of these devices compared with just under half (49%) of all girls. There are no differences in ownership by race or ethnicity or by family income or education - all groups are equally likely to have portable gaming devices.

But what can teens do on these devices, beyond local game play? The PSP offers internet connectivity (generally through WiFi) and now has a version of Skype, a free voice over IP (VoIP) application that allows users to make calls, often for free, over the internet. Skype also has an embedded instant messaging client, meaning that PSP users can IM others from their device.

The DS(i) is somewhat more limited, but has a local area wireless network tool that allows users to interact with others also on a DS(i) within 30-100 feet of them, via a visual chatting interface called pictochat. The DS(i) also allows gaming over the local network as well as WiFi-based internet gaming.

Methodology

Four different teen data sets were used to produce this report. Unless otherwise specified, the data in this report comes from the Teens, Gaming and Civics survey, fielded between November 2007 and February 2008. Methodological details for each survey appear below.

The Parent and Teen Survey on Gaming and Civic Engagement, sponsored by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1102 12- to 17-year-olds and their parents in continental U.S. telephone households. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research International. Interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC, from November 1, 2007, to February 5, 2008. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ±3.2%.

The Parent & Teen Survey on Writing, sponsored by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and supported by the College Board's National Commission on Writing, obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 700 12 to 17 year olds and their parents in continental U.S. telephone households. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC from September 19 to November 16, 2007. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ±4.7%.

The Parents & Teens 2006 Survey, sponsored by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 935 teens age 12 to 17 years-old and their parents living in continental United States telephone households. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC from October 23 to November 19, 2006. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ±3.7%.

The Parents & Teens 2004 Survey sponsored by the Pew Internet and American Life Project obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,100 teens 12 to 17 years-old and their parents living in continental United States telephone households. The interviews were conducted in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC from October 26 to November 28, 2004. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is ±3.3%.

The adult data in this report was drawn from four separate data sets - April 2009, April 2008, November 2006 and November 2004. All data was collected by Princeton Data Source, LLC and all surveys were conducted in English. Surveys did not contain cell phone-based interviews except where noted. The April 2009 Survey was fielded from March 26- April 19 th 2009, and interviewed 2,253 American adults, including 561 respondents reached on a cellular telephone. Margin of error for results based on the total survey are plus or minus 2 percentage points. The April 2008 survey was fielded from March 27th to April 14 th, 2008 and interviewed 2,134 American adults. The margin of error for results based on the total survey are plus or minus 3 percentage points. The April 2006 survey was fielded from February 15th to April 6 th, 2006 and interviewed 4,001 subjects with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. And the November 2004 survey was fielded from November 23 rd through November 30 th, 2004. It surveyed a total of 914 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
About the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
The Pew Internet Project is an initiative of the Pew Research Center, a nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The Pew Internet Project explores the impact of the internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life. The Project is nonpartisan and takes no position on policy issues. Support for the project is provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

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Teens and Mobile Phones Over the Past Five Years: Pew Internet Looks Back

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The Project first surveyed teenagers about their mobile phones in 2004 when a survey showed that 45% of teens had a cell phone. Since then mobile phone use has climbed steadily among teens to 63% in 2006 and 71% in 2008.

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This pie chart (not affiliated with Apple co. in any way) displays where people keep their phones while they are sleeping. The article from the picture also goes on to point out the negative symptoms of being near a phone at all times, even during sleep. A poll was linked within the article on data collected on the different percentages of the usage of specified devices in accordance to the question asked. Also linked was a Swedish study about the mental health of young adults using ICT (information and
communication technology).
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/15/phones-sleep-mobile-_n_2680805.html

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I found this website very helpful with not only the image it provides but also the additional statistics within the article. The image is simple, easy to read and it gets the point across that the majority of people can't go just one hour without using their phones (honestly a little sad). The additional statistics reinforced the bad habits many teens (but not just teens) exhibit that has turned into an unhealthy addiction, which can be serious.

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By PNW Staff July 06, 2016

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In the age where the dinner table is more like a Wi-Fi hub, taking away the bright screen from a child or yourself is a difficult task.

Emails, messages, and updates keep our eyes glued, and our fingers tap-tap-tapping on the screen even as we grudgingly admit how unhealthy it is.

The word addiction is thrown around when it comes to nearly every aspect of our lives, but the need to hold that contact with the world in the palm of our hand has indeed become a dangerous one.

Motor vehicle wrecks, walking into traffic and railway crossings, etc. are mere warning signs of how deeply the mind can sink into an electronic swamp while the physical body and our relationships suffer the consequences.

The statistics are startling:

- The average user checks their cellphone 110 times throughout the day, which translates into spending 3.6 hours on their cellphone at least each day (some college studies have shown this to be double for college age students) That means we spend over an entire day (25.2 hours to be exact) each week on our phones.

- 40% Check their cell phones on the toilet

- 12% Check their cell phones in the shower

- 26% of car accidents are related to cell phone usage

- 75% of smartphone users check their phone within an hour of getting up in the morning

- 56% of users check their phone within an hour of "going to sleep"

- 61% of users admit to sleeping with their phone turned on under their pillow or next to their bed

- 51% of users check their phone constantly while on "vacation"

- 50% of users feel uncomfortable when they don't have their cell phone with them or have no service

- 58% of children aged 3 to 5 can operate a smartphone, but only one to six percent know how to make their own breakfast.

These stats speak even more to the generation we are raising, now. Earbuds dangling from one or both ears and a palm full of phone and your child cannot, and will not, hear anything outside of what they are being fed through their electronic device.

Music, games, or videos, their smartphones are how they soak in information, both right or wrong. We all seem to have a compulsion to checking our phones, but not all have that nagging obsession to keep it 'in hand'. There is an anxiety to being separated from our electronics.

But the umbilical cord needs to be cut, if for no other reason than that we might remember how to have a conversation.

The days of summer-long physical activities has become history with only forty percent of all children even knowing how to ride a bike. This evolution of child-rearing comes with extra stress.

Parents must monitor and have conversations that otherwise would not happen until much later, while staying on top of any new technologies.

As with any addiction, damage can be done through the overuse of a smartphone and parents lack of knowledge.

Even posting children's pictures online can lead to danger but everyone does so without a second thought. Addiction is rarely given a thought before a problem does arise.

There are steps we can all take to move away from the constant connection with people outside of our home in order to connect with those that live within it.

Sleep specialists have already found that the sooner we put away our phones at night, the easier we fall asleep. However, waking up and immediately having to check the screen does the same damage.

Whether 3 or 103, that first thirty minutes to an hour should be for waking up slowly with a routine that does not include a cellphone.

Regardless of what it is used for, it can wait while the mind has time to unravel and stretch along with the body. Retraining the brain-muscle not to instantly react to a lit screen is hard but beneficial.

Making family functions, even dinner, a device-free zone is a step a family can take as one. Even if for half an hour everyone is groaning from the withdrawals, at least it is conversation.

Slowly but surely, "How was your day?" will fall from someone's lips and the benefit from laying our phones aside will become obvious. Because instead of an inattentive, "Uh-huh", a real conversation will start.

Bridges are rarely built in a day. It is the small steps that break the chain of routine and addiction. And as in all things, be the example.

Show maturity to the younger generation rather than tell them. Being the first person to put the phone down and the last to pick it up will build the frame work for new family habits and, hopefully, a tradition or two.

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Cell Phone Addiction Consuming A Generation

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In the age where the dinner table is more like a Wi-Fi hub, taking away the bright screen from a child or yourself is a difficult task. Many of our children have become addicts and it is partly due to following our poor example....

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Outcome for audience.
Reading this website helped me determine my end project: making a poster. Posters are easy ways for teens in schools to get informed and be aware of events and interests occurring throughout their school. Children and teens (actually up to age 25) prefer visual representations for acquiring information. What better way than a poster? (This article also expands on the reasoning of this by giving examples.)

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Infographic Design Team - Infographics Design - Data Visualization

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Young people cannot be generalized, just like any other demographic. They are diverse and come from different social backgrounds and cultures. Yet, human development takes place in a linear fashion. This means, our cognitive development and perceptual reasoning reveal a similarity among all cultures and demographics regardless of where we take birth.

Cognitive development, just like any other development, is pre-programmed and unfolds in a typical manner across cultures. That being said, young people are known to be more visual in nature and they process visual information better than textual information.
Till what age are youngsters primed to process visual content?
Children under 12 and teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 are usually the ones who prefer visual representations of information rather than textual representation. As they grow older, teenagers tend to start reading but continue to prefer brightly colored and attractive designs over text. In fact, research shows that up until the age of 25, people prefer brightly colored designs when presented with colorful and dull pictures. These studies indicate that if you are trying to target youngsters, you may as well publish a few Infographics.

Infographics are popular among youngsters for a number of reasons:

* Infographics are easy to scan and do not require a lot of time and effort to understand.

* Youngsters prefer their statistics to be presented in a fun and entertaining manner.

* Infographics can be shared easily across the social media. Whether it is Facebook or Pinterest, infographics can be shared and they go viral.

* Youngsters are more cognitively primed to process visual information rather than textual information.

* Humor and pop culture references in Infographics tend to attract youngsters more than plain and verbose textual content.
Designing Infographics for youngsters can be a great marketing strategy
If you want youngsters toy learn more about you or if you want them to pay attention to what you are saying, the best way to do so is by publishing Infographics. Children, adolescents and young adults have a photographic memory which helps them to remember visual content better. This is one of the reasons why pedagogical studies advise the use of visual props such as charts and maps in class.

These visual aids help teachers to grab the attention of unwilling youngsters who probably would prefer to go to the mall, instead of listening to what is being taught. When you have to communicate as a company to youngsters, it is even more difficult. You need to present your marketing information in such a manner that it is perceived to be 'cool' and fun.

And one of the simplest ways to do so is by designing attractive Infographics that are easy to understand and process. Youngsters tend to remember colors too and that is one of the reasons why Infographics are more popular with them.
Final thoughts
Colors and information processing have shown to correlate with each other. As people grow older, they show a less preference for colors and prefer shades of grey and textual content. Youngsters on the other hand prefer information presented in colorful and bright representations.

The next time you wonder how best you can target that elusive bunch of youngsters in order to improve your revenue, give a thought about getting Infographics designed. Probably they will help you more than other forms of communication. Understanding your target audience's cognitive capacities is very important to run a campaign. In this case, youngsters clearly prefer visual representations of data. And thus, publishing entertaining but informative Infographics to communicate your message is the way to go.

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Why Infographics Are Popular among Youngsters - Infographic Design Team - Infographics Design - Data Visualization

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Reading Time: 3 minutesShare this on WhatsApp Young people cannot be generalized, just like any other demographic. They are diverse and come from different social backgrounds and cultures. Yet, human development takes place in a linear fashion. This means, our cognitive development and perceptual reasoning reveal a similarity among all cultures and demographics regardless of where we take ...

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This article is additional support for the multiple benefits of going outside more often and for more amounts of time. It is important for teens to know that there are benefits to being outdoors and how it could correlate to the gradebook....unlike increased amount of time spent on devices.

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Most of us spend the vast majority of our time inside. According to one government estimate, the average American spends 90% of his or her life indoors, and as we get older we become even moreinclined not to venture out. But is all this indoor time hurting our health?

The study results are ticking up: spending time outdoors seems to have discernible benefits for physical and mental health. Granted, some are merely by association and can be achieved by other means, perhaps while indoors, but often only with a good deal more trouble and expense. Here are five potential benefits of spending more time outdoors:

1. Your vitamin D levels will go up

Exposing your skin to sunshine - actually, ultraviolet B (UVB) rays - enables the body to make vitamin D, which is why it's also known as the "sunshine vitamin." Research suggests vitamin D may have protective effects against everything from osteoporosis to cancer to depression to heart attacks and stroke.

Of course, it has to be sunny out, and there are some snags. Where you live, the season, and the time of day affect how much UVB reaches your skin. The farther you live from the equator, the less UVB radiation you receive. Vitamin D production is affected by age (people ages 65 and over generate about a fourth as much as people in their 20s) and skin color (African Americans have, on average, about half the levels of vitamin D in their blood as white Americans).

Another problem: sunscreens are most effective at blocking UVB light, the part of the spectrum that causes sunburn, but UVB also happens to be the kind of light that kick-starts the generation of vitamin D in the skin.

The either-or of sunscreen and sunshine vitamin has stirred up a lot of controversy and debate between pro-sunscreen dermatologists and the vitamin D camp. But there is plenty of middle ground here: some limited sun exposure on short walks and the like, supplemented with vitamin D pills if necessary, and liberal use of sunscreen when you are out for extended periods, particularly during the middle of the day.

2. You'll get more exercise (especially if you're a child)

Being outside isn't a guarantee of being active. Still, there's no question that being outdoors is associated with activity and indoor living is associated with being sedentary, particularly for children. According to some surveys, American children spend an average of 6½ hours a day with electronic media (video games, television, and so on), time that is spent mainly indoors and sitting down. British researchers found that children are more than doubly active when they are outside.

Adults can go to the gym. Many prefer the controlled environment there. But if you make getting outside a goal, that should mean less time in front of the television and computer and more time walking, biking, gardening, cleaning up the yard, and doing other things that put the body in motion.

3. You'll be happier (especially if your exercise is 'green')

Light tends to elevate people's mood, and unless you live in a glass house or are using a light box to treat seasonal affective disorder, there's usually more light available outside than in. Physical activity has been shown to relax and cheer people up, so if being outside replaces inactive pursuits with active ones, it might also mean more smiles and laughter.

Researchers at the University of Essex in England are advancing the notion that exercising in the presence of nature has added benefit, particularly for mental health. Their investigations into "green exercise," as they are calling it, dovetail with research showing benefits from living in proximity to green, open spaces.

4. Your concentration will improve

A study published in 2008 found that children with ADHD scored higher on a test of concentration after a walk through a park than after a walk through a residential neighborhood or downtown area. Other ADHD studies have also suggested that outdoor exercise could have positive effects on the condition. Truth be told, this research has been done in children, so it's a stretch to say it applies to adults, even those who have an ADHD diagnosis. But if you have trouble concentrating - as many do - you might see if some outdoor activity, the greener the better, helps.

5. You may heal faster

University of Pittsburgh researchers reported in 2005 that spinal surgery patients experienced less pain and stress and took fewer pain medications during their recoveries if they were exposed to natural light. An older study showed that the view out the window (trees vs. a brick wall) had an effect on patient recovery. Of course, windows and views are different than actually being outside, but we're betting that adding a little fresh air to the equation couldn't hurt and might help.

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A prescription for better health: go alfresco - Harvard Health

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Most of us spend the vast majority of our time inside. According to one government estimate, the average American spends 90% of his or her life indoors, and as we get older we become even more inclined not to venture out. But is all this indoor time hurting our health?The ...

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This study done in Ann Arbor, Michigan showed that participants who went outside for a walk, even in the dead of winter, found that their short term memory improved by 20%. One groups' route consisted of a path in the colleges arboretum while the other group walked down mainstreet. The group that walked through a more natural scene experienced that memory booth while the mainstreeters had no such effects.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Go outside: It helps improve your focus-even when it's cold out.

University of Michigan psychology research in the December issue of Psychological Science explored the cognitive benefits of interacting with nature and found that walking in a park in any season, or even viewing pictures of nature, can help improve memory and attention.

U-M psychology researchers Marc Berman, John Jonides and Stephen Kaplan found memory performance and attention spans improved by 20 percent after people spent an hour interacting with nature.

Researchers believe the findings could have broader impact on helping people who may be suffering from mental fatigue.

"Interacting with nature can have similar effects as meditating," Berman said. "People don't have to enjoy the walk to get the benefits. We found the same benefits when it was 80 degrees and sunny over the summer as when the temperatures dropped to 25 degrees in January. The only difference was that participants enjoyed the walks more in the spring and summer than in the dead of winter."

Kaplan and his wife, Rachel Kaplan, a researcher in psychology and the School of Natural Resources and Environment, argue that people are far more likely to be satisfied with their lives when their environment supports three basic needs: the ability to understand and explore; to feel they make a difference; and to feel competent and effective.

Berman decided to test that theory by sending study participants on walking routes around Ann Arbor. Participants walked on an urban route down main streets and also on a route in U-M's Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, taking in nature. When participants walked in the Arboretum, they improved their short-term memory by 20 percent, but showed no improvements after walking down city streets.

The researchers also tested the same theory by having subjects sit inside and look at pictures of either downtown scenes or nature scenes and again the results were the same: when looking at photos of nature, memory and attention scores improved by about 20 percent, but not when viewing the urban pictures.
Related Links:

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Going outside-even in the cold-improves memory, attention

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ANN ARBOR, Mich.-Go outside: It helps improve your focus-even when it's cold out. University of Michigan psychology research in the December issue of Psychological Science explored the cognitive benefits of interacting with nature and found that walking in a park in any season, or even viewing pictures of nature, can help improve memory and attention.

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Cell Phone Usage and Academic Performance: An Experiment.

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Cell Phone Usage and Academic Performance: An Experiment.

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This experiment tests the relationship between actual time spent on a smart device and academic performances. The interesting thing about this study is that they are not relying on self-reported time spent on device, but apps (such as "App Usage Tracker") to determine the proper usage times.

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Sign in with your credentials to access the EBSCOhost premium information resources provided by your subscribing institution.

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What I found helpful and useful here is that there are several ways to decrease unnecessary screen usage. One may be too severe or just not practical due to your job but there are a handful of reasonable suggestions to help get off the screen more.

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In today's technology-driven world, it's easy to feel like we are constantly plugged in. Whether we're checking our phones, refreshing our emails, or downloading a movie on our laptops, the reality often is that we're surrounded by screens no matter where we look. But there are scientifically proven benefits of unplugging from technology, too - and sometimes, it's useful to remind ourselves of exactly what those benefits are. There's more to life than our smartphones, after all.

Many of us likely agree that technology adds a lot of ease, convenience, and even happiness to our lives. Few people will suggest that we disconnect entirely from our screens, but it's worth remembering that some distance can be a good thing, too - especially for those of us who are already tied to our computers much of the time because of work or school obligations. Setting up boundaries is generally healthy, and putting up a few lines when it comes to our screen time isn't a bad idea, especially if you feel like your days consist of eating, sleeping, and screens.

So, what are some of the benefits of unplugging from tech on a regular basis? Thankfully, there's a lot of research on the subject to let us know exactly what's what. That said, though, it's also important to remember that what is feasible for you might not work for others, and vice-versa. And that's OK! We all have our own obligations and uses for technology. The key is finding what boundaries work for you so you can find the balance that works best for your own life.

Here's a good place to start:

Your Overall Quality Of Life May Improve

In a study from the University of Maryland, researchers discovered that when students unplugged from technology, they reported an improved quality of life. In the context of this study, an "improved quality of life" meant that study participants spent more time with friends and family, got more frequent exercise, and even cooked more often and ate healthier foods. How did all of these lovely changes occur? Less time spent on their phones gave them the "free" time to spend elsewhere!

Unplugging After Work Helps You Recharge

Researchers from Kansas State University have found that unplugging after work can make a big difference in your quality of life, health, and happiness. Researchers found that when people "unplugged" from work related tasks, such as checking their work email after hours, they reported feeling fresher and better recharged when beginning work the following day. For anyone who has ever experienced burn-out at work, this isn't too surprising. We can only do so much for so long before feeling exhausted, and constantly plugging into our screens doesn't help matters.

You Might Sleep Better

Data from a 2013 survey in PEW shows that 44 percent of people sleep with their phones by their sides so they don't miss a message or notification. But being woken up by funny tweets and random GIFs from your friends is likely doing nothing for your sleep patterns, much less your mood upon waking up in the morning. And if you're waking up in the middle of the night to check work emails, that doesn't suggest anything good, either, because you aren't giving your brain and body proper time to recharge.

Other research suggests that the blue light from the screens in our computers and phones also makes it difficult for our bodies to fall asleep, implying that we should disconnect before bed, rather than falling asleep while staring at our laptops.

It Might Make It Easier To Get Over Your Ex

According to a 2012 study, unplugging from tech might even help you get over your ex. Of course, while pretty much nothing except for time and a few good cries truly heals the wounds of a breakup, constantly seeing reminders of your ex on social media doesn't make things any easier.

In fact, study results show that if you follow your ex on social media, such as view their pictures or read their blog, you may have a harder time moving on and focusing on your future. Study participants reported feeling more sexual desire for their ex and less negative feelings for their ex when frequently checking their social media, as well as feeling less desire for their own personal growth.

Unplugging May Improve Your Interpersonal Communications

A 2013 study suggests that sharing too much on social media may negatively impact your interpersonal relationships. If you've ever accidentally "shared" a post that is offensive to a loved one, or vented about a boss and then been held accountable at work the next day, you likely know all too well that sharing online can have consequences.

This study, interestingly, points out that unplugging from technology might benefit your in-person communication and interpersonal relationships because it encourages you to communicate outside of the screen- and text-based medium. While technology makes communication super fast and convenient, it also removes body language, tone, and other things which help us understand one another and form bonds.
Images: Carlos R/Pexels; Giphy (5)

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The Scientific Case For Unplugging From Technology

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In today's technology-driven world, it's easy to feel like we are constantly plugged in. Whether we're checking our phones, refreshing our emails, or downloading a movie on our laptops, the reality often is that we're surrounded by screens no matter ...

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This article is interesting because Sue Thomas brings up the fact that you don't have to choose using little technology, you just have to choose more nature. I can only speak of myself but it has always seemed like one or the other; almost like an ultimatum. Sue leaves a link to her book and an explanation as to how to not cut technology out of your life while still enjoying nature and what this world has to offer.

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Excerpt from Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age: How to feel better without logging off, by Sue Thomas. Paperback and Kindle. Buy Now.
Perhaps you have noticed that digital guilt has become the media's favourite way to fill an empty column or two? The smallest mention of the dangers of technology is guaranteed to make us shift uneasily as we scroll through our phones and tablets.

Remarks like this, for example, can really sting when you're doing your best just to get through the day:

'Reading Thoreau by the fire, fishing for trout, and playing chess over blackberry wine are just some of the pleasures I've found since I turned my back on tech'

wrote digital detoxer Mark Boyle.[i] Ouch! That makes me feel so inadequate, with my phone always in my pocket!

Actually, though, it doesn't have to be like that.

'Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age' is not about turning your back on tech or anything else. It's about re-balancing your life by choosing more nature, not less technology.

I wrote it for people who love their wired lives and the natural world, but worry they can't have both. You can. Don't fret. Don't feel guilty. It really is possible. And there's no need to turn off your phone if you don't want to.

When my book 'Technobiophilia: nature and cyberspace' was published in 2013, it triggered an important conversation. Readers told me they loved the idea of reconnecting with the natural world without having to give up their technology, but had no idea how to go about it. They wanted a simple guide, straightforward and inspiring, with practical activities to try. Here it is.

I hope that what you find here will encourage you to add more nature to your life. Read it outdoors if you can, perhaps while you're in the park, or stretched out on the beach, or relaxing in the woods. Let it help you find your own tech/nature balance.

The book is in three parts. Part 1 explains what technobiophilia is, how I discovered it, and why it's important. Part 2 contains personal stories and research about how our digital lives connect to nature. Part 3 is a list of 50 practical activities - tips, tricks and experiments to try. Dip in anywhere you like and bookmark your favourite pages.

The contents are adapted from material written since the publication of 'Technobiophilia' and include selections from my Wired Well-being column at The Conversation, as well as other journalism, blog posts and the occasional quotation. Some parts are new and previously unpublished.

Author Tristan Gooley wrote that

'the joy of discovering a deep connection with nature is that it allows each of us to see each living thing, object and idea within its own intricate network.'[ii]

This is an excerpt from Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age: How to feel better without logging off, by Sue Thomas. Paperback and Kindle. Buy Now. I'd love to hear about your own stories and experiments. Please join me at the Digital Wellbeing Facebook Group to connect and share.
Of course, we ourselves are part of that network too, and so therefore is technology, because we made it. There are no boundaries. Organic and inorganic, human, animal, AI - we're together on this planet, each a part of the whole.

[i] Boyle, Mark. 'No bills, so many riches: the lessons of living like a prince outside cyberia' The Guardian 6/2/17 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/06/life-without-technology-tech
 [ii] Gooley, T. How to Connect with Nature. Macmillan, 2014.

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Excerpt from Nature and Wellbeing in the Digital Age: How to feel better without logging off, by Sue Thomas. Paperback and Kindle. Buy Now. Perhaps you have noticed that digital guilt has become the media's favourite way to fill an empty column or two?

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They say that everything is great in moderation, including technology. This article brings to the surface how generations that have grown up with technological devices, such as smartphones, are experiencing the ill-effects of technology much more than the benefits that nature and being active have to offer. Not only is using less of technology good for one's physical health but also their mental health, which I think is very important to consider.

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Why Kids Need More Nature and Less Technology. TerryTown RV Blog

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As a parent, limiting your child's use of technology can be hard. Here is why kids need more nature and less technology for better overall health!