Teens, with mixed feelings about their own phones, say their parents need to log off

Nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they feel happy or peaceful when they don’t have their smartphones — but 44% also said they feel anxious without them.

How do teens feel without their smartphones? Better, for the most part.

Nearly three-quarters of teens surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they feel happy or peaceful when they don’t have their smartphones — but 44% also said they feel anxious without them.

The teens were asked a series of questions about how being without smartphones made them feel, resulting in some slightly contradictory answers. Casting some shadow on that happiness, 40% of teens said they often or sometimes felt upset and another 39% said they felt lonely without a smartphone.

The prevalence of these feelings also varied by gender, as 45% of teen girls reported feeling lonely without their phones compared to 34% of teen boys.

The research, published Monday, found that teens also have a bone to pick with their parents’ screen time habits. Only 31% of parents diagnosed themselves as being sometimes or often distracted by their own phones while having conversations with their teen, whereas 46% of teens reported this behavior occurring.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/teens-parents-screen-time-happy-peaceful-anxious-rcna142157

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