No, but it can affect your relationships, health, and day-to-day life.
Oftentimes at the end of the day, after getting home and laying down to rest, many people decide to scroll on their phone for a little bit before going to bed. But sometimes this can get in the way of your sleep schedule, leading people to wonder: does being on your phone before bed affect how well you sleep? And yes, it does.
High schoolers are advised to get 8-10 hours of sleep every night. However, between getting schoolwork done, working jobs, playing sports and still trying to find some free time, going to sleep on time can be hard for some students. “A lot of times I say I will only stay up 5 more minutes, and the 5 minutes turn into an hour or even more,” said TL sophomore Aaron Cifuentes. “The next day I’ll wake up super tired. And even though I try my best not to, I end up getting late to school, feeling tired the whole day, and sometimes falling behind in classes” Staying up late causes students to get less sleep than they are supposed to, and the aftereffects can be serious.
Even when people go to sleep on time, they might fall asleep with their phone near them. And notifications or checking your phone can interrupt your sleep or even wake you up. These are called micro-awakenings, and they cause you to have middle-of-the-night wakeups without you even fully remembering them. After checking your phone in the middle of the night, you get exposed to the screen’s blue light, which tricks your brain into thinking it is daytime and stops the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin. Even knowing a phone is nearby can keep the brain on alert and prevent deep sleep rest. [1, 2] Why does this matter? Because once you are awake, your body wants to make up for the sleep it did not get, which can make you be late or cause a lack of attention during the day. Besides, missing sleep every single day can cause you to develop eyebags and wrinkles, something that no one wants to deal with.
Some simple solutions are to leave your phone on the other side of your room, turn on do not disturb mode, or simply put your phone away 30 minutes to an hour before bed. Which will allow your brain to rest and not fall victim to blue light exposure. Besides, when you are asleep, you allow your body to rest and repair itself, especially if you have had a long or active day. So do yourself a big favor and make it easy for your body and brain to recover overnight.
