Every day, millions of high schoolers around the world complain about how much work they get. They procrastinate, putting their homework and assignments off until the last minute, where they rush to get them done, often staying up far too late than necessary just to turn something in.

The problem isn’t what we think it is. It isn’t the teachers fault for giving us so much homework, or the coaches fault for making practice run late. It isn’t even your parents fault for making you sit down with the rest of the family and eat dinner together every night. It is most likely the students fault.

Studies show that modern day teenagers spend around seven hours every day on a screen. Not accounting for schoolwork, teenagers spend around four to five hours on their phones every single day. Let’s assume that the school day ends at 2:00 for most high school students, they might have practice right after school until around 4:00, when they undoubtedly will want to come home and have something to eat. Worst case scenario, most high school students will be able to start their homework by 4:30. They should be done with everything by 8:00, right? So why are so many high schoolers staying up until 12:00 or even 1:00 to finish their homework? The answer is probably in your pocket right now. Our phones.

Our phones are the biggest distraction we encounter during the day. It is always there, constantly waiting for us to use it. Now, with social media, more and more students are reporting addictions to their phones. What I wonder is how much more effective, efficient, and more focused would we be without our phones? How much more sleep would teenagers get? How much better would our mental health be?

The answer is not to throw your phone out the window (although that will inevitably have its positive consequences), but to simply stay off it for a couple hours to get your work done. High school students do not need to swear off screens, they just need to stay off their phones for a long enough time to get the work done that they need to get done. It really is that simple. The solution is to give it to a parent, lock it in a safe place, and simply shut it down for a couple hours. It just might be the factor that changes everything for you in high school.

• James S., 11th Grade