Should Teens Have Their Own Limits?

Aubree Wilson, Reporter

Teenagers spend an average of nine hours a day online. Video games can be very harmful to kids’ work ethic and focus. However, when kids are stressed or anxious like many teens tend to often be, video games are a quick escape from the world. Video games are sometimes key to helping your mental health.
Recently China has put a policy to only allow teens to have three hours of online video games a week. I agree with the Chinese law and their parents being skeptical and showing their concerns for their children. Being on phones and video games prevents kids from having face to face conversations. Chinese law has now prevented that. Kids can have more time to have face to face conversations. Social media such as comments, likes and viewers play a big part in the impact of decisions.This can mostly affect girls and their self esteem.

Some people say that parents should have a limit on screen time. Other people say that kids should be able to manage their own screen time. Personally I believe that kids should be able to set their own screen time unless they show that they are not responsible enough to handle it. Teens are able to limit how much money they spend on their phone and how much time they spend in a day. So they should be able to set their own limits to how much they spend on their phone or video games. 52% of teens have already taken actions to cut back on screen time. They had tried limiting screen time from social media (57%) and video games (58%).

Pros And Cons Of Screen Time states, “Smartphones apps can help encourage kids to adopt healthful behaviors,such as regular exercise, healthier food choices and better sleep.They also act as tools for communicating with friends and family.” But others disagree with this idea because some may say screens may slow language development at a young age. It also can interfere with social skills development.” Other people think that it’s a parent’s job to be able to lead their child in the right direction and help them develop good social skills and habits. The reason why I think they are wrong is because screens can encourage learning. Pros And Cons Of Screen Time states, “Some screen activities allow kids to learn new information in engaging ways.”

The week of October 14, 2021 the learning network asked a group of teenagers If there should be limits on the amount of time that young people spend playing video games. One student wrote back and said In her speech that Enforcing time limits does not motivate a kid to learn responsibility or time management and only drives them to want to play more. You learn from your mistakes and can learn responsible rewards and when to sleep and do work. making the rules for yourself. Regan also states, “I know this can go negatively but giving kids freedom to choose can make them learn faster than telling them how to learn.” There are always positives for having certain limits on a phone or video games.