Research shows that 95% of teenagers have a smartphone, and 45% say they are on their phone constantly. Most teens spend their days using different apps like text messages, facetime, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and countless others. Social media is considered a highlight of smartphones, allowing teens to stay in contact with one another with just the click of a button.    Smartphones and social media are an epidemic sweeping the teens of the nation, and it is causing many social and intellectual problems to the users. Because teens are dependent on social media, many have trouble holding a face-to-face conversation with others. Since they are used to speaking with each other behind a screen, many find it hard to maintain eye contact and use general social skills. Others are unable to act in a social situation with large groups of people. It has become harder for some teens to make new friends and to introduce themselves to others. Through an app, I believe teens can learn to monitor their time on smartphones and become less attached to their phones.

My solution to this problem is an app that monitors teen activity on phones, called “Teen Timer”.It will monitor each teen’s time they spend on each specific app.  For example, if a teen wanted to monitor their usage on Instagram to just twenty minutes a day, the teen would have to download “Teen Timer”, sync Instagram to the app, and set the timer on the app for twenty minutes. “Teen Timer” would be able to track the number of minutes the teen is on Instagram throughout the day. Once he or she has reached twenty minutes, Instagram will be disabled on the teen’s phone for the rest of the day. “Teen Timer” will also allow teens to set meeting times with their friends at local hangouts in their towns, such as movie theatres, malls, and local restaurants and coffee shops. Teens will be able to invite their friends to the app, and they will be able to set up hangouts at different locations in order to see their friends in person instead of from behind a screen. This will help teens to socialize and meet new people without the use of their smartphones. I will advertise “Teen Timer” by showing different ads on different social media platforms that are popular with teens. I will also advertise through word of mouth from teen to teen.  I believe “Teen Timer” will not only help teens to spend less times on their smartphones, but it will also help them to learn social skills through meeting new people in the hangout setting of the app.

Because “Teen Timer” monitors how long teenagers are on their phones using their favorite apps, I believe it will be able to decrease the number of time teens are on their phones every day. Once teens see how long they actually spend on their phones, they will have their eyes opened to the world around them. They will want to go out and do other things in their local towns that they could not experience through a tiny digital screen. In addition, I believe that if teens spend less time on their phones, they will also live a healthier lifestyle. Teens will get off their phones and head outside to be active and stay fit. Some teens may want to participate in new sports with their friends and hang out in the fresh air. Teens will also learn ways to make new friends through the hangout function on the app. Teens will be able to meet up with others at their favorite local hotspots in order to spend some time off their phones and talk to one another in person. This may help to teach teens social skills and how to be themselves without their phone. Many teens see their phones as their lifelines and believe there is no way they can live without it. Through using this solution, I hope to show teens that there is a world beyond their screens. Overall, I believe “Teen Timer” will give teens away to detach from their phones and open their eyes to the real world around them. “Teen Timer” will be able to change the way teens spend their hours. Instead of being indoors spending most of their day scrolling through social media, teens will want to go out and meet others in their hometowns. I am hopeful that “Teen Timer” will help to end the smartphone and social media epidemic and bring on a new age of socialness beyond the screen for teens.