Tech, Teens, and the Pandemic

Tech, Teens, and the Pandemic 

By: Bereket H. Mahn

Originally Published: February, 28, 2021

The presence of technology in our lives has consistently increased over the past few decades, but never more than during the pandemic in 2020. In 2020, our relationship with advanced technology changed significantly. 

 Technology was the way we could keep in contact but still stay safe. It's how we did school, talked to loved ones and friends, it was how it kept some businesses still running, and how we met some of our most basic needs as people. 

For many teens, that meant an increase in the amount of time spent gaming. Video games went from popular prior to the pandemic to extremely popular. According to Qz.com in September of 2020 (6 months into the pandemic) “$29.4 billion of video games (had) been sold in the US—a 23% increase from the same period last year” Call of Duty, specifically, had “75 million active players in August, up from 30 million in late March, according to its publisher, Activision.”

According to Verizon, U.S. video game usage during peak hours increased 75% in the first week of the quarantine back in March. According to the Hollywood Reporter in December “After six long months of the pandemic, video game enthusiasm did not wane. In the third quarter overall, industry consumer spending hit $11.2 billion, an increase of 24 percent compared to a year earlier.”

Margaret Anderson, a therapist working with teens, said video game usage during the pandemic has had a big effect on teens. “I've noticed the genre of games can increase stress, for example first person shooting games like Call Of Duty can be bad for mental health.” 

Anderson went on to say that “Video games have an impact on sleep through disrupting sleep cycles and can have an increase in stress. The type of games that could influence bad behavior or just be bad for your mental health are the violent or disrespectful speech some video games have. Parents should really limit how much teens are on video games, two hours is enough, even in a pandemic.”

  Paisius Digrande, a 17-year-old from Alaska finds video games a way to pass the time. “Before the pandemic, I hardly played, now I play a lot, like up to 6+ hours. I've also found video games (can be) a way to communicate with my friends even if they are across the globe.” 

“I use video games to escape or socialize,” he said. “Modern Warfare, and Rogue Company (are) games that you can meet people and become friends from all ages” 

Ian Pothier, a teen from The Dalles, Oregon, finds himself spending much of his time playing video games. “I usually sleep all day and play all night,” he went on to say there are pros “it’s good for emotional support, good for people who are insecure or have been bullied,” but where there's pros, there are also cons. “Social anxiety, leads to bad posture, also leads to bad physical shape” he went on to say he met one of his closest friends back in 2016 via gaming, his friend is Canadian. They still stay in contact, they've been closer since the pandemic hit. 

 “There should be a healthy balance between virtual and real life activities,” said Anderson, “If it's interfering with relationships or health or school/work then there's a problem, the balance is off”.