New year, new you. As 2018 begins, many students and faculty members have made New Year’s resolutions. Usually focusing on health, these resolutions are not altogether surprising. However, it seems as if curtailing a smartphone addiction is not being included in these New Year’s goals.

Since the invention of the iPhone in 2007, American society has become increasingly dependent upon handheld technology. In schools, this has prompted strict cell phone and device policies.

According to Fortune magazine, children today are becoming much to dependent on Apple and other mainstream technology products. Though Apple has been aware of this issue, the company has not taken large enough steps to try and prevent the children from getting on their phones. Apple investors, just recently, have spoken out about wanting the company to take further action in regards to this issue.

Yet, it is outside of school that students have become the most intertwined with their devices. No longer using them to obtain information, students spend hours after school scrolling through social media posts and Buzzfeed articles.

Sophomore Mia Olsen talks about how it is easy to spend countless hours on her devices. “If I’m bored I’ll just get on my phone or computer. But I mostly just carry my phone around when I’m walking, it sort of provides a comfort for me to know that it’s there.”

This dependence has raised many concerns among parents. Most are worried about their children focusing more on technology than real-life activities.

So, what’s next? As technology advances, so must the will to separate oneself from it. This is important as it gives the modern generation the ability to disconnect from the online world.