The Impacts of YouTube on My Life

 As a kid, my routine was to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to catch the school bus at 7 a.m., go to school, come home around 3 p.m., play games on my laptop with YouTube playing in the background until 11 p.m., then fall asleep to YouTube—and repeat. I spent the entire evening every week staring at screens and overstimulating my brain. 

My parents divorced when I was 2 years old, and neither knew how to be an effective parent without the support of the other, so screen time was a very effective way to give an illusion of contentment. Unfortunately, I see parents using this method to deal with the vicissitudes of having children very often. Most of the top 10 watched videos on YouTube are Cocomelon songs or nursery rhymes for young children. This means that above all, YouTube is mainly being used to pacify distressed children. The unavoidable stress that comes with raising a child is not something that parents can just pack away into a little screen. They are sacrificing precious time with their child, with comfort and ease of existence. 

When growing out of this routine, I found myself unable to sleep without a video playing in the background. When I would try, I would become terrified of the dark and find myself too conscious of my thoughts. I had to live years of my life shackled to this habit that became near-impossible to overcome. I'm happy to say that today, I very much appreciate a silent room when going to sleep, but it was a rough road to get here, and I still have an adverse reaction to doomscrolling or binge-watching.

In conclusion, screentime is a dangerous thing for people of all ages. In a world of expanding stimulation and scraps for attention, keep an eye on your screentime, and especially the screentime of the children in your life. It has had a detrimental impact on my life, and I wouldn't wish that impact on anyone else.