Put Down the Remote

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Photo Courtesy: Madison Osberger-Low

Junior Livvy Clauss watches Criminal Minds during class time.

While students stay busy at school writing essays, taking notes on lectures, and studying for tests, it’s likely that at least some of their time at home is spent binge watching Netflix. It seems like we all have that one TV show that gets rewound at the end of the day, but researchers have found that too many hours spent watching those shows are contributing to student brain damage.

According to VentureBeat, an tech news publication, about 1 billion hours of Netflix are watched every month.

“This surge of the online TV service has led to increase in teenage users. A statistic by Mashable said that approximately 43% of Netflix users are young adults, or teenagers,” the article stated.

More student time spent glued to the screen takes away from much needed sleep time.

“The average high schooler only slept for 6 and a half hours, a fraction of the 9 hours that are recommended. The popular online TV service has helped shrink the amount of sleep teenagers get, leading to more tired students,” the article stated.

Previous generations didn’t have to deal with the Netflix factor, so solutions may need to be innovative.

Although it is unrealistic to tell every student to stop watching Netflix, they should be aware of the consequences in the future. For example, keep in mind that season three of “Criminal Minds” can wait until next weekend.