Is my smartphone hurting me?

    So, we all read two different articles with two different views. The first one was titled "Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?" and was written by Jean Twenge who discussed how she believes that smartphones have destroyed teenagers because they've messed with kids' social skills and have caused depression and other horrible things. "There is compelling evidence that the devices we’ve placed in young people’s hands are having profound effects on their lives—and making them seriously unhappy." -Jean Twenge. 

    But the second article, written by Abigail Fagan and titled "No, Smartphones are Not Destroying a Generation", argues against Twenge and her opinions. Fagan discusses how biased Twenge is and talks about how she leaves out "social context" and how some teenagers differ from others. She also states, "The data the author chooses to present are cherry-picked, by which I mean she reviews only those studies that support her idea and ignores studies that suggest that screen use is not associated with outcomes like depression and loneliness or that suggest that active social media use is actually associated with positive outcomes like resilience." Fagan obviously believes that nothing is wrong with teens on their phones. 

I got my first smartphone when I was fourteen and I didn't really care that much about it at first. I was happy that I finally had my own phone, but I was in no way addicted to it or anything. Fast forward a few years and now that I actually have friends and am now a part of a group chat, I find myself on it A LOT. Like a lot, a lot. I'm talking to my friends all the time on snapchat and find myself checking my phone for notifications every few minutes. It's bad, but that's just how much my friends matter to me. I already put my phone in a drawer in my room when I don't want to be distracted by anything so I think I can get away from it just fine.