How Much Screen Time Should Students Have?

As an intro to what I'm going to discuss, click this link!

As we all know, electronics in the past decade or so have come to dominate people's lives. It seems wherever I go these days, I pass dozens of people staring down at their phones, or at their iPads, or any other variety of attention-grabbing gizmos. So when I hear teachers talk about "flipping" their classrooms, or discussing the need to integrate technology further into their classrooms, I am not totally sure how to feel. Statistics show that kids spend up to TEN FREAKING HOURS A DAY looking at some sort of screen, whether that be for educational use or entertainment. They play games, watch videos, and engage in what sometimes is the entirety of their social life on these gadgets. While technology is unbelievably convenient, and students definitely need to know the ins and outs of modern technology to be prepared for life outside academia, I can't help but think that sometimes they need a break. Not to say that teachers should avoid using these technologies, but that they should avoid them unless they are actually serving a legitimate educational purpose. Playing more games, despite their educational tilt, is overkill, in my opinion, and the opinion of the author of this article. When using screens, students should be creating something, whether it be a video, a song, a website, and beyond. These are the skills that they will need once they graduate, not how to use apps and games to learn the presidents of the U.S.