“iPad kids”: we know the type. Nowadays, hordes of youngsters are sprawled on their living room couches, nestling their handheld devices with meticulous care and violent obsession. As they position themselves in a manner that makes you doubt the welfare of their spinal cord, they fix their attention to the critical component of their unexperienced lives. The object in question that could grasp their cognitive awareness for sheer hours at a time is obvious — their iPad, or their mom’s. Either way, the recent “iPad kid” craze has spiraled out of control, leaving parents bewildered as to how they could possibly handle effectively disciplining their heavily addicted kids in the presence of a technological device.
You may ask: what’s my deal with “iPad kids?” In light of starting my first semester of college, I have achieved a noteworthy goal for myself: cutting my screen-time in half, despite not making any deliberate lifestyle changes — other than starting school in a completely different environment than previous years.
Until this summer, I had never truly experienced the tranquility of taking time for myself and partaking in the cozy, plain pastimes.
As ironic as it may seem, I put my academics above everything else in high school; to some extent, I intend to uphold that same standard for the next four years. My life consisted of waking up at an ungodly hour, slugging through eight periods of classes, engaging in several afternoon extracurriculars and grappling with poor time management to complete my homework for the following day. Although I somehow managed to sustain myself in high school, my schedule caused detriment to my physical and mental well-being. In fact, after officially committing to Fordham, I succumbed to the effects of pent-up burnout and finally decided to relax, knowing that my hard work finally paid off.
Until this summer, I had never truly experienced the tranquility of taking time for myself and partaking in the cozy, plain pastimes. Recently, Netflix has become my best friend; from current hits like “Bridgerton” to modern classics like “Jane the Virgin,” I relish in the newfound serenity without my phone. Despite many young adults sharing the same guilty pleasures in periodically consuming media, a majority of them lack pride in passing the time. After all, how could they rightfully expose the harsh reality that they choose to “rot in bed,” a universal college norm, instead of fulfilling themselves with something productive?
While engrossing oneself in mindless hours of technology is justifiably taboo, as it has become a recent epidemic mainly affecting younger children, it does yield some advantages to the average college student. Realistically, we are already too occupied with academic expectations to partake in classes, clubs and our social lives. We usually cannot devote an unhealthy portion of our daily living to our devices, but we have enough time to squeeze it into self-regulated recreational activities. Whether it be games, shows, or simple forms of communication, most modes of entertainment via technology can rejuvenate the mind amidst the consequences of school.
Studies have even shown that there is no correlation between higher stress levels and social media usage in university students, suggesting that moderate engagement in one’s devices does not come at the grave expense that society frequently assumes.
In my experience, I have noticed that being a self-proclaimed “iPad kid” brings unexpected advantages. I usually set aside 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the day, to engage in recreational screen-time activities, such as watching Netflix or FaceTiming my family. I still have ample time to complete my homework and study for classes on a daily basis, and I do not have any worries about my technological usage hindering my academic performance in the foreseeable future.
As mentioned, my screen-time has even decreased, and I noticed that it is significantly easier to balance my social life without worrying about my phone usage. Maintaining a strict screen-time has made my transition to college and adulthood smoother than I had anticipated.
Embracing the “iPad kid” lifestyle is not for everyone, but it could definitely garner new attraction if defined differently. Nonetheless, as such trends shift in and out of style and the current technology-driven generation ultimately matures into contributing members of society, there is one unspoken truth that cannot be forgotten: At least you were (hopefully) never a “Sephora kid.”