Growing up in an entirely digital world, we find it genuinely hard to stay away from technology. It is a part of our school lives, work lives and, most important, our free time. Looking up from your phone while at lunch or hanging out with your friends might seem like a simple task, but to some, technology has become the only way of communicating with others.

Anywhere we go, our phones are in our hands. Whether we are with a group of friends, our family or alone, our phone never leaves our side. Although phones have made our daily lives easier, we need to draw a line and learn when it is time to just put our phones down and appreciate the world around us. This might seem silly, but it is entirely true. It is horrifying to walk into a room full of teenagers to find them all silently on their phones. Rather than talking and forming real relationships, they’re just Snapchatting or liking each other’s pictures. Social media is all to blame for the lack of communication skills that has plagued teenagers.

On average, Internet users spend more than two hours a day on social media, according to a January 2019 article from Digital Information World. Those are two-plus hours that could be put forth to completing homework assignments more thoroughly, exercising or — here’s a thought — having real, in-person conversations. 

When we spend so much time with our faces glued to our phones, we experience strains on our friendships.  If a person is left out of a group event, social media will almost immediately let that person know. Also, people are not able to build strong relationships with their current friends if they are all just staring at their phones instead of actually talking and getting to know each other. It is now time to put the phone away and hold onto the moments around you, rather than just putting them on Snapchat.