Written by: Akshita Pandey, Akshita Pandey
A teenager stays awake past midnight, listening to music and scrolling down the endless reels on Instagram. For most grown-ups, it is just another manifestation of being distracted, lazy, and addicted to technology. But for the teenager himself, the very same screen might be the place where he can find a distraction from his anxieties, engage in conversation with his friends, create something, or just have some respite from all the stress they are under. Now the debate over screen time has moved beyond the boundaries of technology itself.
Generation Z has come to represent the anxieties that exist within society regarding digital technology. Generation Z is often depicted as a generation unable to concentrate, focus, or have real relationships because of the amount of time spent online. However, such an outlook has resulted in increased surveillance by parents, restrictions on cellphones in schools, and more people advocating for a digital detox. Such reactions often mistake the problem for its symptoms. The bigger question is not how or why young people spend so much time online, but rather why they need to do so.
An 80 dB Communications study conducted in 2026 on teenagers between the ages of 13 to 16 and their parents in Gurugram showed an evident mismatch. Four out of five parents had expressed their concerns over screen time, yet 82 per cent of the teenagers said that adults do not understand their digital world at all (Gen Z & Gen Alpha Study, 2026). This is indicative of something far beyond mere difference in opinion regarding technology.
However, these results contradict the myth that youth scroll through their phones without thinking. Most of the respondents used technology as a way of connecting with their friends, while others also used the internet for entertainment, creativity, music, studying, and self-expression. Young people do not just consume information; they use technology as a coping mechanism.
Such emotional burdens cannot be dismissed off-hand. No less than eighty-three per cent of the participants cited exams and academic pressure as the main cause of their stress levels, with more than half confessing that adults always referred to them as being lazy when, in reality, they were feeling overwhelmed (Gen Z & Gen Alpha Study, 2026). In a country like India, where success is measured based on scores, competition, internships, and achievements, even recreation is tinged with guilt. The smartphone becomes one of the few places where expectations vanish.
However, discussions on screen time still revolve mainly around self-control. Teens should use the internet less often, be more disciplined, or just “touch grass.” The question remains unanswered as to what need teenagers have that screens fulfill. Reframing the problem in terms of self-discipline instead of distress makes it possible not to look at the structural conditions of teenagers’ lives.
Ironically, adults perpetuate the same negative behaviours that they condemn in others. The research findings featured on CNN indicated that teenagers, whose caregivers were always busy with their phone, felt less emotionally bonded to them (Hetter, 2026). Although the child is repeatedly told to stay away from technology, the parent continues to be tied to work-related e-mails and the never-ending demands of the digital world. The teenager feels compelled to fight not only peers but the technology owned by their parents for attention.
The paradox highlights a bigger irony. When it comes to teens, screen use is deemed evil; however, when it comes to adult productivity, it becomes the norm. Parents tell their kids not to use their cellphones at dinner time when they themselves respond to office messages at the very table. Educational establishments preach about digital wellness when the kids are made to compete with one another academically.
The young generation is certainly not oblivious of the dangers of digital life. The same 80 dB survey indicated that 71 per cent admitted indulging in too much time spent online, and 62 per cent admitted that social comparison had a negative effect on them (Gen Z & Gen Alpha Study, 2026). Generation Z knows very well that the algorithms create the urge for endless scrolling, unrealistic body beauty, and continuous comparison. They certainly don’t require any additional warning about the dangers of technology. What they require is understanding of the fact that these sites are made for keeping you hooked.
Engagement makes money for social media firms, not happiness. They have devised their systems to capitalise on emotionality and uniqueness because these are qualities that ensure more user engagement and more revenue from ads. The designs of features like infinite scrolling and personalisation have been thoughtfully designed by social media firms, using knowledge of behavioural psychology. And yet, discussion about screen addiction remains focused on individual failings.
Screen-time disparities make the issue even more complicated. Wealthy parents have the ability to offer their children something else to do besides digital entertainment. These things include playing sports, traveling, therapy, joining clubs or associations, and living in safe neighborhoods. Most young people, unfortunately, do not have access to all of those options. In crowded urban environments where space is increasingly scarce, worries about safety prevail, and there are few affordable recreational outlets available, the internet becomes the most viable community/entertainment option for them.
This trend has only grown more evident since the pandemic. The members of Generation Z have experienced their teenage years under quarantine, home-schooling, and disrupted relationships. The challenges that they must now face include rising costs of living, uncertainty about their future employment, concerns about climate change, increased political polarisation, and academic pressures. Screen-time has become incorporated into all aspects of their learning, communication, recreation, and coping. The life of Generation Z online is inseparable from their real life.
None of these point to the idea that there aren’t any problems with an unrestricted use of technologies. Psychologists have been describing for long enough how excessive social comparisons, algorithms, lack of proper rest, and constant connection affect psychological health. Technologies can serve both as consolation and as obsession. The same platform that provides a teenager with good company of friends can also subject him to unreal expectations, fake news, and endless comparisons. It is the very contradiction that underlies Generation Z’s attitude towards technologies.
The biggest issue with the current screen time discussion may very well be that of surveillance rather than of trust. According to the study of 80 dB, almost half of the younger respondents reported that they may be inclined to conceal their online issues since they would be afraid of getting their phones taken away (Gen Z & Gen Alpha Study, 2026). Parenting through fear does a better job at discouraging truth-telling than it does at reducing screen time.
Consequently, the solution cannot simply be making the rules stricter or reminiscing about a childhood of a bygone era where there were no phones. Children do not need more surveillance; they need emotional security. They need educational systems that prioritise well-being on equal footing with achievement, adults who demonstrate healthy usage of technology themselves, policy makers who tackle the issue of shrinking public spaces and mental health services, and technology companies that are accountable for technology engineered for maximum engagement.
Maybe it was never about whether Gen Z spends too much time online. Maybe it is a more difficult question to answer why so many young people prefer to talk to their screens rather than the people around them. If the Internet is the place they turn to when they want to be heard, accepted, and understood, then the issue is not really that they find it hard to disconnect; it is the fact that the world they are living in makes them have no other choice but to stay connected. Instead of wondering why Gen Z can’t stop using their phones, maybe we should wonder about the kind of society we have made them part of.
References
Gen Z & Gen Alpha Study: 80dB Report Highlights Digital Divide Between Parents and Teens. (2026). Dailypioneer.com. https://dailypioneer.com/news/parents-call-screen-time-waste-gen-z-finds-comfort-in-it-survey
Hetter, K. (2026, June 20). Young people who say caregivers are distracted by devices feel less secure in their relationships. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/20/health/parenting-screens-teens-insecure-attachment-wellness
techteam. (2026, June 8). Parents See Wasted Time Gen Z Sees Connection 80 dB Communications Survey. English Site. https://www.telugutimes.net/en/bnews/parents-see-wasted-time-gen-z-sees-connection-80-db-communications-survey-348204.html
Akshita Pandey is an undergraduate student at FLAME University, and Moitrayee Das is an assistant professor of Psychology at FLAME University.