The Average American’s Screen Time

If you’re anything like me, a pretty sizable chunk of my day is spent in-front of some sort of screen.  From working on a laptop, to browsing, to texting, to watching TV, it’s easy to become engulfed in screen time.  “Comparitech” recently shared a fascinating chart showing the amount of time each country spends in front of a screen. On average, the U.S. spends 7.05 hours per day in-front of a screen. However, the country that came in first at an average of 10.46 hours per day is South Africa (Comparitech.com).

There is nothing wrong with spending time in front of a screen. In reality, we live in a world that is more or less inseparable from technology. It has become natural, sometimes even necessary, to spend a great deal of time in front of a monitor.

However, it is good to remind ourselves that the content in our 7 hours of screen time is often developed and influenced by someone else. Therefore, our 7 hours are potentially full of content that has been greatly persuaded by our over sexualized and agenda-driven society. Our 7 hours are potentially full of content in hearty support of our culture’s degrading morals and values.  Our 7 hours are potentially full of creators, directors, and developers looking to take things one step further to add a “shock value.” This is potentially 7 hours of “bad company” to corrupt our “good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

As we know, we are in control of what we set before our eyes. We can stop watching a show.  We can walk out of a movie  We can look away, change the channel, or close the browser. What we fill our minds with greatly influences the way we talk, think, and act (Luke 6:45). Therefore, since many of us have a screen in front of us for about 7 hours a day, let’s be extra sensitive and careful to place content before our eyes that falls in line with Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”