Electronic Devices, New Age Advancement, or Newfound Sickness?

A study on how electronic device affect an adolescents health and self-esteem at Chagrin Falls
High School
By Student Name

Abstract
Electronic devices are items such as smartphones, televisions, and computers etc. They
have been hailed by youth everywhere as a savior to the monotony of the outdoors and restrictive
parents. However, does this technological freedom come with a price? More and more people are
beginning to notice changes in adolescents health such as inactivity, more susceptibility to colds
and tiredness. Are these coincidences or is there a link between the electronic device use and a
teenagers health? Not only have impacts on health been noticed but also impacts on self-esteem.
The explosion of social media has given the opportunity for teens to rise in popularity with their
peers by the number of followers they accumulate. Could this encourage a positive self-
esteem? What about the effects of a teen who lacks followers? It has been argued whether or not
theses occurrences have any impact at all on how adolescents view themselves or how they feel.
The purpose of my project is to determine and then analyze the affects electronic devices have on
the health and self esteem of students at Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) upon a teenagers
health and self-esteem.
I conducted my research in the school of CFHS which contains 622 and the vast majority
of them being Caucasian. Due to the close knit town and affluent residents, 100% of the students
surveyed had an electronic device of some sort. This made it the perfect area to access the
possible effects of electronic devices upon the students health and self-esteem. I utilized 158
completed surveys to gather a large pool of data from which I could draw thorough and accurate
conclusions. The surveys included questions that pertained to how electronic device use impacts
their health and self-esteem. Furthermore, to add to the already large pool of data. I conducted
three interviews: two student interviews with David Sawyer and Samuel Monroe (whose names
were both changed to protect their identity) and one teacher interview with Mr. Brian McKenna.
The interviews also contained similar questions as those used in the surveys, but this time, I was
able to witness their personal reactions to the topics.
Through the data collected, I discovered that electronic devices do indeed impact a
teenagers health in a negative manner. The later a student stays up using a device, the more
tired, mentally drained and susceptible to sickness the next day they are. Furthermore, I found
that electronic devices have both positive and negative effects on an adolescents self-esteem. In
order to make these conclusions, I compared them to information that I used for my literature
review. The Literature Review contained information that I discovered in secondary sources
thorough EBSCOhost. The information was compiled from journals, websites and articles that I
combined to form the basic foundation of previously discovered information on my topic. By
comparing my data to that found in the Literature Review, I could form particularly accurate and
thorough conclusions of how electronic devices impact an adolescents health and self-esteem.
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Introduction3
Literature Review...7
Design and Methodology..11
Data Results...17
Discussion and Conclusion....26
Appendices....34
Works Cited...59
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Introduction
Statement of the Problem
The bus only had one more stop before Ben and John arrived home. On the bus, Ben
decided to sit next to his brother, John. Ben began writing his assignments for the evening down
on a chart that he had printed out from the school websites resource page. John, on the other
hand, became engrossed in what appeared to be a riveting game of angry birds on his iPhone 5.
Upon reaching home, Ben grabbed an apple and raced on up to his room to finish some of his
homework before dinner. John, glancing at the clock, thought to himself, Its only 3:09, Ill start
my homework at 4:00. As he lounged, John ate a lengthy snack and watched the latest funny
videos on YouTube for about half an hour. Having seen numerous people scream in terror as a
seemingly fake snowman jolts in their direction, John puts down his phone and enters his room.
As he does so, he can hear Bens classical music drifting from his room. John glances at the
clock on his phone and rationalizes, Its 3:46, Ill start my work a bit early. However, his
computer has other plans. John sits down and enters Word to start his English paper. Before he
begins, Yahoo pops up; now, John finds himself scrolling the top headlines section until 4:18pm.
Finaly realizing he must begin, John reluctantly starts writing his English paper. He has only
finished about one and a half paragraphs when around 5:24pm, Ben exits his room. By the skip
in Bens step, John can tell he has finished his homework for the night. Deciding he had made
some progress on his essay (and partially from seeing his brother shooting hoops outside), John
decides to take a ten minute break. He goes straight from his computer screen to his phone to
check Instagram. Forty five minutes later, John returns to his essay writing. Fast forward to
10:06pm. The brothers parents find that Ben has been asleep for at least half an hour and John
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has only just finished his homework about 25 minutes ago. After a slightly exasperated
conversation with his parents, John trudges off to take a shower. Finally in bed, John continues
were he left off in Breaking Bad. He eventually decides to turn off his computer after seeing a
particularly disturbing scene. Even though he turned his computer off at 11:13pm, John does not
fall asleep until midnight. His prolonged alertness results from the stimulation of his mind by the
light emitted from his computer screen. He soon wakes up at 6:30am - tired and sore eyed - he
notices that he has a slight headache. Ben bounds downstairs, his backpack organized, hair
combed and ready to go; sharply contrasting his brothers sluggish deportment. Now, fast
forward to the week before final exams. Ben is nervous but his organization, preparedness and
well rested body help keep his nerves in check. To his excitement, Ben ends the year with all
As. John, having spent his organization time watching Netflix, is severely nervous. He stays up
late into the night, looking over notes and study guides. John finishes the year with four As, two
Bs and one C.
Inferring from the fictional anecdote above, Ben is responsible and goal oriented. Whereas
John struggles with time management issues when it comes to using electronic devices. In the
study, I will attempt to determine exactly how and how much electronic device use affects a
teenage students grade and self-esteem levels. John accomplishes more grade wise but how does
he perform socially? Is he on the outside of social gatherings or does he engage in a clique made
up of people with similar study habits? Do Johns actions allow for more social communication
with friends? Or, does his stressful nature drive others away? Similar to Ben in the anecdote,
people who avoid electronic overuse tend to be more focused, driven to complete their work and
allow time for relaxation; effectively giving the brain a nice mental break between school days.
Also, nights of thorough and resting sleep leave a person with a sense of being refreshed and
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prepared for the day (Nuutinen, Ray and Roos; Terbush). On the contrary, people similar to John
(overuse of screen time) report more stress and minor ailments such as headaches, earaches and
tiredness (Thomee, Harenstam and Hagberg; Terbush). These ailments have been linked to the
fact that the light emitted from the screen of electronic devices stimulate the brain through the
suppression of the sleep promoting hormone, melatonin. Consequently, a person subconsciously
uses the device longer than anticipated. The most common occurrence of this is at night where
the person ends up staying awake later into the night. The sleep deprivation then easily leads to
daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and the minor ailments listed above (Terbush; Thomee, Harenstam
and Hagberg; Nuutinen, Ray and Roos).
Rational and Focus of the Problem
The study focused on adolescents in Chagrin Falls High School, and how electronic
devices affected their health and self-esteem levels. One goal of the study was to bring to the
attention of others the potentially harmful side effects of electronic devices. Therefore, equipped
with the information provided in this study, I hoped that parents and/or the teenagers themselves
will set up rules as to when and for how long electronic devices will remain active in the
evenings. Another goal I wished to obtain with the results of this study was to have
manufacturers of such devices place labels specifically stating the effects that use, overuse, and
misuse of their product could have on a person. Consequently, teenagers would be more
informed on how the electronic device will affect them which would help them build a plan to
stay in good health, maintain academic success and promote positive self-esteem levels.
Definition of Terms
Health- A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence
of infirmity (Redmayne, Smith, Abramson).
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EMF- Electromagnetic fields associated with headaches, earaches and concentration difficulties
(Thomee, Harenstam, Hagberg).
Sleep disturbances- Sleep loss that leads to a reduction of hours to sleep, waking hours further
into the night, short sleep duration, poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness (Nathan
and Zietzer).
Behavior- The way in which one conducts him or herself (Merriam Webster Dictionary).
Electronic devices- A group of technologies that consist of computers, television, mobile phones
and videogames (Nuutinen, Ray and Roos; Isklar, Sar and Durmuscelebi 9; Terbush).
Self-esteem- The sense or level of respect one has for themselves and their abilities (Merriam
Webster Dictionary).
Addiction- An abnormal dependence on objects or activities that eventually turn into a dominant
presences in life (Isklar, Sar and Durmuscelebi 10; Ivarsson et al.).
Academic- Relating to school and the amount of success one has in classes at school (Merriam
Webster Dictionary).
Achievement- Something that has been done or completed through effort or completion as a
result of hard work (Merriam Webster Dictionary).
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study was to analyze and determine the effects of mobile device
usage on the health and self-esteem of teenagers in Chagrin Falls.
Research Questions
1. What are the effects of electronic device usage on a teenagers health?
2. How does electronic device usage impact the self-esteem levels of teens?
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Literature Review
Definition and History
Electronic devices are defined as television, computers and mobile phones. Such devices
affect the human body through the light emitted by their screens (Terbush). Also these
electronics, especially mobile devices, emit electromagnetic fields (EMF). EMFs can affect the
human bodys physical and mental health (Redmayne, Smith and Abramson; Thomee,
Harenstam and Hagberg). In order to ascertain how the electronics affect a person, one must first
define what the base line of health is. Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social
well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (Redmayne, Smith and
Abramson). Through exposer to EMFs, symptoms such as sleep deprivation, headaches, earaches
and warm sensations have been reported. Therefore, the use of mobile devices affect human
behavior, psychology and physiology (Redmayne, Smith and Abramson; Thomee, Harenstam
and Hagberg; Ivarsson et al. 166-167).
As a result of the market for new technology, the usage of electronic devices has
drastically increased (Nathan and Zietzer; Thomee, Harenstam and Hagberg; Redmayne, Smith
and Abramson). According to Isiklar, Sar and Dermuscelebi, The International Telecomunication
Union recieved 6 billion mobile subscriptions to cellular and or Wifi services in 2011, which
totals 87 percent of the worlds population. Consequently there was a large increase from the
previous 5.4 billion subscriptions in 2010. The younger generation proved to be the most
potential consumer for new technology by a study that showed 91.7% percent of teenagers
between the ages of 14 and 17 had a mobile device of their own (9)F. As the rise in electronic
device usage became more evident, another study was conducted in 2012 that estimated 78% of
all Americans ages 12-17 had a mobile device and 37% had a smartphone. Concerns for the
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impact mobile devices have on their users began rising along with the increasing commonality of
mobile device use. However, there was only limited examination of possible behavioral effects.
(Nathan and Zietzer).
Theories and Approaches
Research justifies the plethora of effects that electronic devices have including
headaches, earaches and concentration difficulties. However, sleep loss is the most prevalent out
of all (Kids Sleep Patterns; Terbush; Nathan and Zietzer). According to Lauren Hale, professor
of preventive medicine at Stony Brook (N. Y.) University School of Medicine, all electronic
devises can impact sleep quality. The light emitted from the screens of such technologies can
suppress melatonin, a sleep promoting hormone. Additionally, the lights and sounds from the
devices make it much harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Due to the psychological effect of
stimulation at night, people end up watching the TV or using their mobile devices for longer than
they plan. When a survey was conducted, 61% of the participants reported using their laptops or
computers before falling asleep at night. Also, half of the people ages 13-29 were found to surf
the web almost every night before bedtime. Those who used cell phones before falling asleep
were more likely to wake up feeling tired and unrefreshed. People aged 13-65 reported that, on
average, they needed seven and a half hours of sleep every night. However, they reported only
receiving six hours and fifty five minutes of sleep due to electronic device use before bed
(Terbush).
Another factor associated with electronic device use, in this case mobile phones, are
lowered self-esteem levels. The lower self-esteem levels begin when the person becomes
addicted to their mobile phone. Addiction is defined as an abnormal dependence on objects or
activities and is considered a mental health issue. Mental health problems have been increasing
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around the world according to Thomee, Harenstam and Hagberg. Once addiction sets in, the
person compulsively checks social media sites and programs. Parks, a specialist in mobile phone
addiction, reports them experiencing anxiety if they go even a day without phone use. Ko et al.
states that people use the social media sites to stay in touch with current and/or old friends, not to
proactively make new ones. Consequently Walsh, White and Young discovered that the device
users become increasingly socially isolated because they only dwell within one particular clique
of society. Indeed, Yen et al. find messaging between friends seems infrequent to the users.
When a text goes un-responded to or a call goes unanswered for a day, the person begins to feel
lonely and nervous. As a result, their self-esteem is lowered. The lowered self-esteem, according
to Iqbal, is especially prominent among women because of their increased tendency to drama and
passion (Isiklar, Sar and Durmuscelebi 10).
Criticisms
With the world running on technology, tech gurus mainly focus on the negative effects
electronic devices have on people. What about the positive? Could mobile phones or computers
be used to generate student success in schools rather than only contributing to sleep loss and low
self esteem? Schools see technological change as a threat, especially when it comes to mobile
devices (Roe 32). Also, according to Henderson and Berla, children who have parents active in
their education process are more likely to graduate high school and pursue college. Technology
allows easy parent school communication through school websites, Wikis and email (Olmstead
28-30). Additionally, the use of cell phones in class has always been seen as detrimental to
learning when in fact, it can be beneficial. With the use of Polleverywhere.com, teachers can set
up several different types of interactive lessons utilizing cell phones. Teachers can make a chart
of several different answers to a question mid-lesson. Students can then send in the answer they
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believe to be correct via text and the teacher will be able to see a graph of the answers in each
section. See, with the real time information, teachers can gauge how well the class has grasped a
certain topic. Another benefit to cell phones in the classroom is that they are cost effective.
Therefore, the use of technology can in fact be beneficial to Americas aspiring youth, not just a
distracting habit (Roe 34).
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Design and Methodology
Setting
My study was executed upon the students and teachers of Chagrin Falls High School
(CFHS). CFHS is part of the Chagrin Falls Township that began with the arrival of Serenus
Bernet on the west side of the Chagrin River in the early 1800s. After he arrived, more residents
trickled in and the town began to grow. Soon the iconic dam was erected by John Woodward and
Benjamin Carpenter across the Chagrin River (Wells). Soon, the falls became the main attraction
of the flourishing town. Due to its growing success, people began forming religious societies,
creating churches and building large homes (later to be named century homes). Consequently,
Chagrin Falls attracted a more affluent, Caucasian population which makes up about 97 percent
of the demographic residency today (Wells; Chagrin Falls, Ohio). The town has expanded to
contain quaint attractions such as The Popcorn Shop which seems to precariously balance on
the edge of the falls and Blossom Time, a family friendly spring festival which is a major
attraction for CFHS students. Students who attend both the festival and CFHS live within the
Chagrin Falls Exempted Schools limits which include parts of the surrounding townships
(Bainbridge, South Russell, Cuyahoga etc.) CFHS is made up of f22 students with the vast
majority being Caucasian; 98.8% Caucasian, 0.2% Black or African American, 0.1% Asian,
0.1% Hispanic or Latino and 0.8% two or more (Chagrin Falls Exempted Village School). The
lack of diversity contributes to the common phrase thrown around among the town that Chagrin
Falls is a bubble. Since the town is small, lacking diversity, close knit and consisting of
affluent families, students attentions are veered away from the usual distractions of larger cities.
Therefore, strong traditions were created including the coveted Pumpkin Roll in which juniors
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and seniors of CFHS acquire pumpkins and ride them down Grove Hill. Also, the sheltered
lifestyle leads to a competitive academic atmosphere which subsequently boosts the schools
achievement levels. Due to such competitiveness, CFHS was awarded the highest honor that an
American school can receive; The Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence. Other awards include
being named a school of distinction in 2005 and receiving the Excellent with Distinction award
for the 2012-2013 school year. CFHS is one of only two schools to receive the award all thirteen
years it has been offered (Chagrin Falls High School; Chagrin Falls Exempted Schools). Not
only is the school known for its excellence in academics, but also in the array of courses and
sports programs offered. CFHS hosts numerous Honors and Advanced Placement Classes,
consequently setting their students on an accelerated track to college and success. Also, a
plethora of sports programs including football, soccer, lacrosse, track and cross country are
offered throughout the year. Therefore, the township can be summed up as a close, affluent
community, rich in history, who work to persevere and continue the legacy of Chagrin Falls.
Participants/Selection of Participants
In order to collect sufficient data on how electronic devices affect students of CFHS, I
chose to distribute surveys to the students of the school. Of the 622 attending students, I
surveyed 158 as a means to gather a representative pool of data. The students surveyed consisted
of ninth through twelfth graders. I targeted a variety of classes including Honors English 10,
Spanish 1, Pre-Calculus, Honors Chemistry, U.S, History, Computer Programming, Spanish 4
and Honors Algebra 2. The reasoning behind the variety of grades and class subjects was to
again achieve a representative pool of students from the school, not just the opinions of students
from one certain grade or subject. Those students may only have a certain opinion or outlook and
therefore skew the data. The surveys addressed questions relating to the extent of time spent on
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ones electronic device(s) and the subsequent behaviors, attitudes and impacts after the use.
Another method I utilized to collect data was to interview two students and one teacher from the
school. I first wanted to view a students use of electronic devices so I interviewed David
Sawyer*, a sophomore who utilizes a smart phone. A particular aspect that was insightful about
David was his popular status on the social ladder of CFHS. Next, I moved to gain a counter
student perspective from Samuel Monroe*, who has a lower level of social acclaim and has been
the target of many a joke. These two interviews provided contrasting views of electronic device
usage by students. Finally, I moved on to interviewing a teacher, Mr. Brian McKenna. He
teaches both World and U.S. History and is the head Alumni director of CFHS. His station as
head alumni director is crucial to gaining an understanding of the effects of electronic devise use
because he has the ability to actively compare previous years of students effects of their
electronic device usage and then the effects of electronic device usage on the current students of
CFHS. Through the diverse methods listed above, I am able to achieve a relative and accurate
data pool as a means to create and support my findings about my topic during the research
project.
Instruments/Methods
In order to draw the most accurate conclusions possible about my topic, the effects of
electronic devices on a teenagers health and self-esteem, I utilized primary and secondary
sources to pool and gather my information. I located my first primary source through the receipt
of 158 complete surveys from grades nine through twelve in the previously mentioned classes.
By distributing the surveys to the variety of grades and classes, I was able to synthesize the
average student at CFHS and collect accurate, valuable data. Also, by utilizing the surveys, I was
able to target specific areas of my research topic and gain a greater insight as to how such areas
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are impacted by electronic device usage. Specific areas I targeted were the effects of electronic
devices on ones health and self esteem levels on a daily basis. Another primary source I
utilized were interviews with students and a teacher. By interviewing students, I was able to
understand their views of electronic devices and how they affect their health and self-esteem on a
personal, daily level and then find out information on how they affect them on a larger time
scale. Also, I was able to see and sense the atmosphere and connotations of their answers and
demeanor that cannot be surmised through surveys. Next, I interviewed a teacher so I could
gather their opinions on electronic device usage. Despite a few questions pertaining to the
teachers children, the interview, mainly targeted what the teacher noticed about his students
health and self esteem based on his observations of electronic devise use. Therefore, I could
compare the students observations and the teachers observations to compile, unbiased, accurate
data. Therefore, from the interviews, I was able gather first hand information on how electronic
devices have impacted students health and self-esteem through their own personal observations
and the observations of teachers on them.
To further my collection of information, I also utilized secondary sources such as
EBSCOhost and Google to find previously discovered information about electronic device use
and its effects on teenagers. I referred to a journal found on EBSCOhost by Redmayne, Smith
and Abramson titled The Relationship between Adolescents Well-being and their Wireless
Phone Use, quite often. The journal provided great definitions of terms associated with my
study and provided useful information on radiofrequency, electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs)
emitted by electronic devices. Another journal I referred frequently to was one written by Isklar,
Sar and Dumuscelebi titled An Investigation of the Relationship Between High-School
Students Problematic Mobile Phone Use and their Self Esteem Levels. The journal was useful
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because the authors were thorough in evaluating the positive and negative effects that have
recently been uncovered by electronic device use. Through Google, however, I was able to
research the history and demographics of Chagrin Falls. One particular online article I referred to
regularly was called Chagrin Falls Township History. The article, by Rosemary Metro,
provided great detail into the early beginnings of Chagrin Falls in the 1800s. Consequently, it
was crucial in providing a historical depth around the quaint town of Chagrin Falls.
As a means to collect all of my data I used two main methods; distributing surveys and
conducting interviews. I decided to distribute the surveys to three Honors English 10 classes, one
Spanish 1 class, two Pre-Calculus classes, three Honors Chemistry classes, one U.S, History
class, one Computer Programming class, two Spanish 4 classes, and one Honors Algebra 2 class.
In the surveys I included 11 questions pertaining to the recipients electronic device habits and
the effects such habits have on their health and self-esteem. I printed off 425 surveys and
separated them into stacks of 25. Then, over two days I distributed each packet to its respective
class. At the end of each day I collected the completed surveys (keeping them stacked in their
piles based on class and class period). Next, I compiled a list of questions to ask students in an
interview. The questions were carefully tuned to evoke body language in the interviewees to help
further my data collection. The questions ranged from inquiries about their personal electronic
device habits and the resulting effects to questions about their friends electronic device habits
and their subsequent effects. I brought a notepad to record data for the student interviews which
were conducted during the students lunch period. Next, I wrote a series of questions for a
teacher interview. The questions were similar to the questions used for the students but this time
they pertained to what the teacher noticed in his/her students electronic device habits and the
resulting impacts upon their health and self-esteem levels. The questions also inquired about the
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teachers own children and their electronic device habits. For the interview of the teacher, I
brought along and was granted use of a recording device for the interview. After each interview,
I typed up notes on the interviewees demeanor and other little items that I was not able to record
during the interview. Through the methods listed above, I was able to compile accurate
information about my topic as a means to enhance and solidify my findings during the project.





















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David Sawyers real name was changed to protect his identity
Samuel Monroes real name was changed to protect his identity
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Data Results
Purpose of Study
The purpose of this study was to analyze and determine the effects of mobile device usage on the
health and self-esteem of teenagers in Chagrin Falls.
Research Questions
1. What are the effects of electronic device usage on a teenagers health?
2. How does electronic device usage impact the self-esteem levels of teens?
Coding of Data
In order to ensure a vast pool of data, I decided to issue 425 surveys to several classes
varying in subject and grade (Appendix A). However, the surveys happened to be passed out two
day before spring break and consequently, of the 425 surveys sent out, I received 158 completed
surveys back. Now that I had the results, I needed to find a method of interpreting the
information in a way that would best enhance my research. Therefore, I created an Excel
spreadsheet that consisted of 158 rows, one for each survey and 11 columns, one for each
question. As a result, I could view all of my collected data on one page instead of wasting time
shuffling through almost 160 individual paper surveys. Having entered all of the results, I
utilized Excels data filter feature to isolate certain information about the students responses
(Appendices A-GG). I wanted to focus on my health variable first so I isolated information
specifically pertaining to that variable. For the subject of health, I determined the amount and
percentage of respondents who owned electronic devices (Appendix B). Next, I calculated how
late each student (respondent) stayed up using an electronic device (Appendix C). Consequently,
I was able to see how electronic device usage impacted the amount of sleep respondents
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received. By seeing the amount of sleep each respondent received, I determined how it affects
their health based upon the recommended six to eight hours of sleep for a teenager (Appendix
D).Then, I determined the percentage of respondents who slept for various amounts of time and
their corresponding GPAs (Appendices E-P). Now, I could further access the affects electronic
device usage had upon the respondents because I could see their GPAs compared to the amount
of sleep they received due to electronic device usage. Good GPAs (3.0 to 3.9) represent a good
state of health and poor GPAs (2.0 or less) represent a state of ill health. As a result, I could
further evaluate the impact of electronic devices upon the respondents health. Finally, for my
health variable, I determined the amount of respondents who answered yes to whether or not a
medical professional had recommended decreasing the amount of time spent using electronic
devices as a means to benefit their health (Appendix Q). This way, I could gauge the severity of
the impact of electronic devices on ones health because a doctor made note of it to his patient.
After I completed gathering enough relevant information pertaining to the health variable, I
moved on to the self-esteem variable. First, I found out the percentage of respondents that had
answered yes to whether or not a friend or other teenager had mentioned decreasing their
electronic device usage to benefit the respondents self-esteem levels (Appendix R).
Consequently, I would be able to see if or if not electronic devices impacted a students self-
esteem in a manner that made the change noticeable to others. I then proceeded to calculate the
percentage of those respondents answers about the various emotions they felt after using their
devices (Appendix S). Thereby, displaying whether or not the use of electronic devices affected
their emotions and by extension, their self-esteem levels in a positive or negative way. Then, I
repeated the above procedure except this time I used the question of whether or not a parent or
other legal guardian ever mentioned decreasing the use of a respondents electronic device(s) in
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order to benefit their self-esteem (Appendix T). Consequently, I was provided with more
information on a students self-esteem as a result of electronic device use from the generally
more reliable source of a parent or legal guardian. Another calculation I used to deduce a
students self-esteem levels was to find out the amount and percentage of respondents with a
certain GPA (Appendix U). Then, of the respondents who had that particular GPA, I recorded the
answers to how they felt after using electronic devices (Appendices V-X). Subsequently, I could
see if there was a connection between a respondents GPA as a result of their electronic device
use and a respondents self-esteem level. After collecting the information specifically pertaining
to my variables, I also calculated some other data that I thought might be beneficial such as the
percentage of yes answers to questions whether or not a parent/legal guardian or friend/teen
had ever mentioned decreasing the use of electronic devices as a means to benefit the
respondents health (Appendices Y and Z).
When I finished coding my survey data, I moved onto coding the data I gained through
conducting three surveys with questions that targeted my variables (Appendices HH and II). I
had interviewed one teacher and two students, therefore, I decided to split the interview results
into two separate groups; students and teacher (Appendices JJ-LL). Consequently, I could have a
clear view of each type of response from the different groups. Next, I took a highlighter and
highlighted similar responses between the two student interviews in yellow and then different
responses in red. Through this method, I was able to accurately analyze their responses in a
timely and thorough manor. The questions I asked for the teacher interview and the questions I
asked the students were relatively similar with a few exceptions. Because of this, I continued
with the same color coding pattern on the teachers responses as I used with the students
responses. Again, I could easily compare the answers to determine the varying views of
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electronic device use by comparing and contrasting the answers given by the teacher and
students. However, for the questions that differed from the student interviews and the teacher
interview, I used blue and green highlighters to analyze those answers. I also continued to use the
blue and green coding method on top of the yellow and red throughout the teacher interview so I
could compare the similar and different answers that only the teacher gave.
Overview of Overall Results
When I finally finished meticulously coding the data, I was not surprised to find that on
most accounts, the data parallel what I had discovered when writing the Literature Review.
Although, instead of having completely negative effects on a teenagers health, the use of
electronics by students at Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS), seemed to have a more neutral
effect on health. Also, the data, in line with the Literature Review displayed a more negative
effect on self-esteem levels. I discovered that 31.65% of CFHS students stayed up until 10:00pm
using an electronic device, 30.38% stayed up until 11:00pm, 16.46% stayed up until 12:00am
and 4.43% stayed up past 1:00am using an electronic device (Appendix C). Despite the
seemingly late time of electronic device activity, 69% of the total respondents reported receiving
six to eight plus hours of sleep per night (Appendix D). Also, with 100% of respondents using
electronic devices daily, 2.53% of students had a GPA of 2.0 to 2.9, 61.39% had GPAs of 3.0 to
3.9 and 34.81% had a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0 (Appendix B and U). Consequently, the data proves that
there are little to no negative health effects of electronic device usage on CFHS students because
their physical health is unimpaired due to most of them receiving the recommended six to eight
hours of sleep per night and their mental health is unimpaired because 96.2% of the respondents
maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher (Appendix U and AA). The data relating to self-esteem,
however, revealed that electronic device use does not seem to encourage a constructive self-
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esteem. Only 28.48% of respondents had a positive boost in their self-esteem due to positive
emotions after using an electronic device (Appendix BB). The data also revealed that 55.70% of
students felt no change in emotion and 29.75% felt worse than before (Appendix BB). Compared
to the surveys, the student interviews showed a slightly different view of the results relating to
the health variables (Appendices A-GG, KK and LL). The two students reported using their
electronic devices until 11:00 pm or 12:00 am, reported feeling sluggish after using their
devices but they also described their use of electronic devices as having no effect on their health
(Personal Interview; Appendices KK and LL). On the subject of self-esteem, the data revealed
that the students believed that the use of electronic devices had either no effect on ones self-
esteem or had a positive effect (Appendices KK and LL). When coding the data from the teacher
interview, I found it to be congruent with the findings of my Literature Review (Appendix JJ).
Discussion of Methods
The first step I took towards collecting my research data was to distribute 425 surveys to
the following classes: Honors English 10, Spanish 1, Pre-Calculus, Honors Chemistry, U.S,
History, Computer Programming, Spanish 4 and Honors Algebra 2 (Appendix A). Of the 425
surveys sent out, 158 completed surveys were returned (the low return amount is mainly due to
students being gone for spring break because the surveys were distributed two days before spring
break). First, I focused on the data that related to how electronic device usage affected a
teenagers health. From the respondents who took the survey, 100% of them had at least one
electronic device of some kind and 68.99% of them had more than one electronic device
(Appendix B and CC). Furthermore, of the respondents who had an electronic device, 20.92%
stayed up past 11:00pm on an average night using the device (Appendix C). In addition, how late
the respondents stayed up using their device with only 14.81% of those respondents receiving
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seven to eight hours of sleep per night paralleled the information pertaining to the amount of
sleep that a respondent received (Appendix DD). Such information allowed me to gain insight on
how the usage of electronic devices impacted their health. To further my insight on the health
variable, I linked the hours of sleep a respondent received to the respondents GPA. I found that
of the 2.53% respondents (four respondents) who slept for one to two hours, 25% had a GPA of
3.0 to 3.9 and 50% had a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0 (Appendices E and F). The remaining respondent
failed to answer the question (Appendix F). I found that 1.90% (three respondents) of the total
respondents reported sleeping for three to four hours a night (Appendix G). Of those
respondents, one third had a GPA of 2.0 to 2.9, while the rest having a 3.0 or higher (Appendix
H). I went on to find that 1.90% of the total respondents slept for four to five hours and that,
again, one third of them had a GPA of 2.0 to 2.9 and the rest had a 3.0 or greater (Appendices I
and J). Next, 19.62% of the total respondents (31 respondents) were found to sleep for five to six
hours of sleep per night (Appendix K). Of this group, 3.22% had a GPA of 2.0 to 2.9, 64.52%
had a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9 and 32.26% had a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0 (Appendix L). Then, I continued on
to find that 31.01% of the respondents slept for six to seven hours a night and only 2.04% of
them had a GPA lower than 3.0 ( Appendices M and N). Finally, for my health variable, I
calculated that 35.44% of the total respondents (46 respondents) received seven to eight hours of
sleep per night (Appendix O). Of them, 63.04% had a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9 and 36.96% of them had
a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0 (Appendix P). Next, I moved on to coding the data so that it would pertain to
my self-esteem variable. I decided to link if respondents answered Yes to a friend or other
teenager mentioning to them a decrease in electronic device usage in order to benefit their self-
esteem to how they felt after using electronic devices. First, I calculated 6.96% of the total
respondents answered Yes to having a friend or other teenager mention decreasing their
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electronic device usage to better their self-esteem (Appendix R). Of those respondents 72.73%
reported feeling negative emotions and only 45.45% reported feeling positive or no change in
emotions (Appendix S). However, 93.04% answered No to the question (Appendix R). Of
those respondents, 26.53% reported feeling negative emotions after electronic device use and
82.31% reported feeling no change or a positive change in emotions after electronic device use
(Appendix EE). I preformed the same procedure for question ten: Has a parent or legal guardian
ever mentioned decreasing your electronic device usage to benefit your health? Of the 158
respondents, 15.19% answered Yes (Appendix A and T). Of the 15.19%, 54.17% reported
negative emotions after using electronic devices and 63.50% reported feeling no change in
emotions or a positive change in emotions (Appendix FF). For those who answered No,
82.84% reported feeling no change or a positive change in their emotions and 33.58% reported
feeling a negative change in their emotions after electronic device usage (Appendix GG). For the
self-esteem variable, I decided to link the emotions one felt after using an electronic device to the
respondents GPA. Of the respondents with a GPA of 2.0 to 2.9 (four respondents), 50% of the
respondents reported having either no change in emotion or a positive change in emotion and
50% reported having a negative change in their emotions after electronic device use (Appendix
U and V). I also discovered that of the respondents who reported having a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9 (97
respondents), 81.44% reported having no change in emotions or a positive emotions and 24.74%
reported feeing negative emotions after electronic device use (Appendix U and W). Next, I
moved onto of the respondents who had a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0 (55 respondents), 80% reported
having no change or a positive change in emotions and 32.73% reported having a negative
change in emotions after electronic device usage (Appendix U and X).
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Another method I used to gather valuable information on my topic and research
questions was to conduct interviews (Appendices JJ-KK). I interviewed one teacher, Mr. Brian
McKenna, and two students, David Sawyer* and Samuel Monroe*, as a means to record
different views of electronic device usage (Appendices JJ-KK). I first interviewed the two
students who provided both similar and conflicting views of electronic devices (Appendices KK
and LL). David responded that he spends over eight hours a day on his electronic devices.
Contrastingly, Samuel Monroe stated that he only spent about one hour on his phone and said
that after using it, he felt mostly bored (personal Interview; Appendix LL). On the other hand,
David said he feels happy after using his device and says that it helps [his] life (Personal
Interview; Appendix KK) Despite differing amount of times spent on their device(s) in a typical
day, both said that they stay up very late using them (David until 12:00am and Samuel until
11:00pm). Furthermore, both of them reported that the next day, they feel sluggish (Personal
Interview; Appendices KK and LL). This parallels what Mr. McKenna said about how he notices
students are more tired when they have stayed up late using an electronic device (Appendix JJ).
Even though they reported being sluggish after having a late night of electronic device usage,
both David and Samuel believe that their electronic device usage has no impact upon their
health. When I asked about how their electronic device usage affects their academic
achievement, David said it impacts his academic achievement relatively negatively, whereas
Samuel believes it helps his. Finally, I asked about what they notice in others who use electronic
devices compulsively. David said that he thinks it makes the users act without thinking and puts
them under more stress which leads to anger. Also, he believes that it helps them manage more
tasks at once. Samuel answered that the use of electronic devices compulsively makes others less
social (Appendix KK). However, he continued on to say that the use of electronic devices does
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not make him any less social (Appendix LL). Next, I interviewed Mr. McKenna whose answers
seemed to be more consistent with those that I found when writing the literature review. He
believes that electronic devices have either a neutral or positive affect on a students self-esteem
because if they are not strong in a certain area but have a strong ability with technology, they
would benefit (self-esteem wise) from that rather than classroom/textbook work. On the subject
of health, Mr. McKenna believes that the effect is only physical; mainly due to students choosing
to play an electronic game rather than going outside for an activity). When I asked about if he
notices anything different in students who use electronic devices compulsively, Mr. McKenna
responded that he sees them being more tired and a negative turn in their grades (Appendix JJ).













David Sawyers real name was changed to protect his identity
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Samuel Monroes real name was changed to protect his identity
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Discussion and Conclusion
Summary
The purpose of my study was to gather and analyze the impacts that electronic devices
had upon the teenage students of Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) through the eyes of both
students and teachers. My first information was gathered from online, secondary sources that
came together to form the Literature Review (Lit Review). Consequently, the Lit Review served
as a data pool to compare my own findings to. I then illustrated the findings proposed by the Lit
Review in a fictional anecdote which was placed in the Introduction section. Based on
characteristics described in the anecdote, I settled on two different methods that could capture
the different effects of electronic device usage, surveys and interviews. The surveys and
interviews addressed topics such as how long electronic devices were used by individuals, their
emotions resulting from device usage, information on if they had been asked to decrease their
use of electronic devices, etc. As a result, I was able to gain specific information pertaining to a
teenagers heath and self-esteem. The rationales behind my selection of methods, setting and
scope were then listed in the Design and Methodology section. After compiling my data
collection through interviews and surveys, I coded the data into an Excel spreadsheet. I then
wrote about my calculations and findings in the Data Results section. Upon further analysis in
the Conclusion, I discovered the information I found about the health variable loosely paralleled
the Lit Review in the fact that both stated electronic devices have a negative effect on health.
However, my findings pertaining to a teenagers self-esteem mostly contradicted what was found
in the Lit Review by revealing it can have both positive and negative effects on self-esteem
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levels. Therefore, through careful and thorough observations of my findings, I was able to
formulate informative conclusions about how electronic devices effect the students of CFHS.
Overview of Research Findings and Methodological
To gain a thorough understanding of my research topic, I conducted my research on the
students of Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS). Their closely knit, affluent community lead to
the finding that 100% of the students surveyed owned and used an electronic device and 68.99%
had more than one electronic device (Appendices B and CC). Consequently, this factor made
CFHS the perfect area to conduct my research on how electronic device use impacts a students
health and self-esteem. I decided to measure a students health by the amount of sleep they
received and their overall academic performance using their grade point average (GPA). In my
research I found that the majority of students stopped using electronic devices by 11:00pm which
allows for a maximum sleep duration of eight hours of sleep before the student has to prepare for
school in the morning (Appendix C). Therefore, despite all of the students having electronic
devices, more than half are able to receive the recommended six to eight hours of sleep per night.
Consequently, the use of electronic devices upon those students health could be considered
neutral. However, having the opportunity to sleep for six to eight hours does not mean a
respondent will take such an opportunity to do so. To check this slight issue, I also looked at
the GPAs of students who slept for various amounts of time because a low GPA can be an
indicator of poor health. Upon analyzing the data, I found that with increasing amounts of sleep
(with the exception of the one to two hour category whos small response pool offers statistically
skewed data), the number of students with a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9 and students with a GPA of 4.0 to
4.9 greatly increases. The trend concludes in the seven to eight hours of sleep category with
63.04% of the respondents having a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9 and 36.96% having a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0;
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100% with a GPA greater than 3.0 (Appendices E-P). As a result, the data offers a more accurate
representation of how electronic devices impact a students health. Therefore, the following
conclusion can be made: The earlier a student stops using an electronic device and goes to sleep
at night, the healthier they are the next day which can be seen in their positive performance in
academics. Contrary to the surveys, the interviews provided varied and sometimes contradictory
results. This may be due to the face to face interaction and not wanting to admit certain habits as
a means to avoid embarrassment (Appendices A-GG and JJ-LL). David Sawyer* reported
spending over eight hours on his electronic device (a smartphone) every day. After using it until
11:00pm, he mentioned that he felt Sluggish the next day and that his academics were affected
on a moderate to negative level (Personal Interview). Therefore, the information David provided
depicts a direct link between his electronic device use and negative impact upon his health.
Specifically, Davids excessive electronic device usage can be seen to negatively affect his
cognitive health because he stated that it impacts his academics moderately to negatively
(Appendix KK). The fact that he stated seeing no effects on his health brings up the fact that
teenagers may not be privy to how electronic devices affects their health. In the second survey,
Samuel Monroe* said he spent one hour a day using electronic devices and stopped using them
at 12:00am on an average night. He too reported feeling sluggish the next day which furthers the
findings that electronic device usage has a negative impact upon a teenagers health (Appendix
LL). The interview with Mr. McKenna reinforced these findings as he too found students who
compulsively use electronic devices to be more tired and have a downward turn in their
academic achievement (Appendix JJ). Yet again, the information revealed that the later a student
stays up using electronic devices, the more negative the impact will be upon their health
(Appendices A-P and JJ-LL).
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My research also uncovered data pertaining to how electronic device usage impacts the
self-esteem of student at CFHS. I based the impact electronic devices had upon their self-esteem
by inquiring as to whether or not the people they see regularly mention decreasing their
electronic device use to benefit their self-esteem and the different levels of emotion students feel
based on their GPA (Appendices Q-V, X-Z and EE-GG). I chose to partially evaluate their self-
esteem due to electronic device usage by linking it to their GPA. I linked it to their GPA because
seeing that CFHS is small school (containing only 622 students) and that Chagrin is made up of
affluent families, students are expected to keep up good grades. Failure to do so may result in a
sense of inadequacy and subsequently low self-esteem. Therefore, in my research, I found that
generally, the percentages of students who reported feeling either no change in emotions or more
positive emotions after electronic device use increased as their GPA increased (Appendices U-
X). As a result, their self-esteem was not harmed through using electronic devices. On the other
hand, the percentage who felt negative emotions after electronic device usage rose and fell with
each subsequent GPA range. The percentage of students who felt negative emotions as the result
of electronic device usage decreased between students who had a GPA of 2.0 to 2.9 and students
who had a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9. However, the percentage of students who felt negative emotions
after electronic device usage increased between students with a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9 and students
with a GPA of 4.0 to 5.0 (Appendices U-X). This can most likely be attributed to the added
stress of trying to maintain higher GPAs and the changing rates of self-esteem with each new
graded assignment. Furthermore, in my research, I found that 6.96% of students reported having
a friend or other teenager mention to them to decrease their electronic device usage to benefit
their self-esteem (Appendix R). Therefore, since the percentage is so low, the data reveals that
only a few students have used their devices to the point where a change in their self-esteem was
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noticed by a peer. Of those respondents, 72.72% reported feeing negative emotions after
electronic device usage and 45.45% reported no change in emotions or a positive change in
emotions after electronic device usage (Appendix S). With the above percentages and
information on emotions felt after electronic device use linked to GPA, the data reveals that
electronic devices do indeed encourage both a lowered self-esteem and a positive self- esteem for
students at CFHS (Appendices Q-V, X-Z and EE-GG). This particular outcome is most likely
due to how each individual handles information viewed on electronic devices and their different
tolerances and ways of building their self-esteem. The interviews also aligned themselves with
the information found in the surveys as well (Appendices Q-V, X-Z, EE-GG and JJ-LL). David
believed that electronic device usage impacts his self-esteem in a moderate to high manner and
Samuel reported that electronic device usage had no effect on his self-esteem levels (Appendices
KK and LL). Mr. McKenna also agreed in his interview that electronic device usage impacts a
students self-esteem in a neutral or positive way (Appendix JJ). Therefore, the data displays that
the impact of electronic device usage upon students self-esteem at CFHS can be neutral,
positive or negative; electronic device usage has no one major impact to a students self-esteem.
Weaknesses
In my research I only focused on one specific type of teenager; the teenager from a close
knit, affluent community. Therefore, the results found in this study would not accurately
represent the general teenage population. For example, what about teenagers that whose families
do not have a steady income? What about teenagers who are not primarily Caucasian? What
about those teenagers who are underprivileged? Another item that raises issue is the reliability of
surveys. Reliability is in question because there is always a chance respondents will not take the
survey seriously or they will be untruthful when answering questions. Also, a select few filled
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out all of the survey except for one question, therefore, there will be a higher percent of
statistical error in that category. Furthermore, how a teenager feels after using an electronic
device is heavily dependent on what items they are using the device for. If it is for social media,
hurtful comments, inspirational pictures, and different messages will affect the specific
emotional outcome that the teenager will feel when done with their electronic device session.
Plus, the questions pertaining to how long a person used or stayed up on an electronic device had
to be generalized in order to acquire a reasonable data pool that could be observed and therefore,
the respondent may not actually, for example, stay up every night until 11:00pm using an
electronic device. One night they might make stay up until 12:00am and then the next night it
may be 10:00pm. The same concept would apply for how long a respondent used an electronic
device.
Not only were there expected, minor weaknesses in the actual project, but there were also
some weaknesses in myself as well. The main weakness came in the form of a painful delay in
being able to work as the result of being in an unexpected car wreck. That particular event forced
me to spend many late nights trying catch up which, translated into a greater amount of
stupid errors (typos, grammar etc.). However, a surprising weakness I noticed was that I
tended to over think things. This led to long drawn out sections of the research paper that are
typically meant to be shorter. This also presented a problem when calculating the data found
from the surveys. I attempted to calculate too much information too accurately which again, led
to elongated research project sections. In conclusion, since this paragraph was made up purely of
weaknesses, it may come across that my research project had many major errors. In reality, that
was not the case, all of the above weakness mainly boiled down to typos or stupid mistakes
that do not hinder the integrity or structural soundness of the project.
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Implications
In the future, especially as the technology of electronic devices continues to grow at an
accelerated rate, there may be other students who will want to conduct a similar research project
in the future. Despite my thoroughness and dedication to this project, I do feel some
improvements could be made. For starters, when creating the surveys to distribute, have the
research questions in mind at all times. When I created the surveys, I did tailor it to my research
questions, however there ended up being too much frivolous information. Also, aim for clear,
concise and to the point questions that are easy to answer in the surveys. I noticed that my
directions and even some of the questions were too confusing for the audience I was distributing
them to. Furthermore, make sure the information from the completed surveys can be coded
relatively easily for the sake of ones own sanity. I found that the data I coded resulted in over
fifty different percentages which took up valuable time that could have been spent writing the
different sections of the project. However, on the subject of unbiased results, I would
recommend diversifying the scope (participants) of the project. The variety of students races,
ethnicities and social background will greatly help add authenticity and credibility to the study.
After spending many hours analyzing data, drawing conclusions and constant revisions,
there are some recommendations I would like to make to those who also find common interest in
this topic. First I would encourage teenagers to regulate their electronic device usage. A great
way to do this is create a schedule that helps control the time spent on electronic devices. Such a
schedule could include restricting electronic device use after school to when homework is
completed and before 9:00pm. This would ensure that they receive the proper amount of sleep to
wake up refreshed and healthy to help combat the negative effects of electronic device use on a
teenagers health. Also, I would recommend avoiding social media situations on electronic
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devices that leave oneself feeing worse than when they first turned on the electronic device. This
would be in an effort to promote a positive self-esteem to boost the already high percentages of
positive emotions after electronic device use even higher. I would also ask teenagers to consider
going on a digital diet and eliminate the use of electronic devices for a given amount of time.
Secondly, I would encourage parents to be more aware of their childs academic performance. I
would not recommend constantly nagging the teenager about their grades, but just keep an eye
out in case there is a sudden or gradual decrease in their academic performance. This could be a
direct sign that their child is in poor health due to excessive electronic device usage. Another
item parents should monitor (from a distance) is the amount of time their children spend on an
electronic device and how their child generally feels afterwards. If the child is repeatedly
experiencing a depressed mood, it could mean the child is suffering from a low self-esteem due
to electronic device use. Finally, I would recommend that teachers take note of any compulsive
electronic device user. They should watch for any negative changes in health and self-esteem
(which can be measured by social participation, mood etc.). Even though this project has shown
that electronic device usage can have positive benefits on self-esteem, it does not diminish the
fact that the percentage of students feeling negative emotional effects were also there. If teachers
take early notice of students with a lowered self-esteem, it can help prevent more suffering for
the teenager. With the combined cooperation of teenagers, parents and teachers, I believe the
negative health effects of electronic device usage can be nearly eliminated and the students who
have a lowered self-esteem level can join the percentages of those with a positive self-esteem.


David Sawyers real name was changed to protect his identity
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Samuel Monroes real name was changed to protect his identity
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Appendices
Appendix A
This survey is to help retrieve information on students about their electronic device (cell phones, video games, computers,
television etc.) use and how it impacts their health and academic achievement and self esteem levels. The information gathered
in this study will remain anonymous. Please circle all answers that apply (to you) and answer honestly.
1. If you own an electronic device or use one regularly, what device is it?
Smart phone Tablet Computer Gaming System Television iPod
Cell Phone Hand Held Gaming system (such as a Nintendo DS) Other
2. If so, how often do you use the device in one day? This is the total amount of time spent on all of your devices
combined
Less than 30 minutes 30min 1hr 1hr 2hr 2hr 3hr 3hr 4hr
4hr 5hr more than 5 hours total
3. Approximately how many hours a sleep do you get a night?
1hr 2hr 2hr 3hr 3hr 4hr 4hr 5hr 5hr 6hr 6r 7hr 7hr 8hr More than 8 hours
4. How late do you stay up using an electronic device?
7:00pm 8:00pm 9:00pm 10:00pm 11:00pm 12:00am 1:00am Later than 1:00am
5. What is your current GPA?
1.0 1.9 2.0 2.9 3.0 3.9 4.0 5.0
6. After using an electronic device (watching Television, electronic games, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), do you feel
Happy Refreshed Energized Tired Lonely Stressed same as before
7. Has a doctor or other medical professional ever mentioned decreasing the use of electronic devices to benefit
your health?
Yes No
8. Has a parent or other legal guardian ever mentioned decreasing the use of electronic devices to benefit your
health?
Yes No
9. Has a friend or other teenager ever mentioned decreasing the use of electronic devices to benefit your health?
Yes No
10. Has a parent or other legal guardian ever mentioned decreasing the use of electronic devices to benefit your
self-esteem
Yes No
11. Has a friend or other teenager ever mentioned decreasing the use of electronic devices to benefit your self-
esteem?
Yes No
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Appendix B

Appendix C
Students who Own and Use Electronic Devices
Own a Device = 100% Do not Own a Device = 0%
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now Late Students Stayed Up Us|ng L|ectron|c Dev|ces
Until 10:00pm = 31.65%
Until 11:00 = 30.38%
Until 12:00am = 16.46%
Stopped Using Electronic Devices by 9:00pm = 12.03%
Later than 1:00am = 4.43%
Failed to Answer the Question = 5.05%
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Appendix D

Appendix E

kespondents who kece|ved the kecommended 6-8
nours of S|eep er N|ght
8espondenLs who 8ecelved Lhe 8ecommended 6-8 Pours of Sleep er nlghL = 69
8espondenLs who dld noL 8ecelve Lhe 8ecommended 6-8 Pours of Sleep er nlghL = 31
Respondents who Slept for 1-2 Hours
Respondents who Slept for 1-2 Hours = 2.53%
Respondents who Slept for More Than 1-2 Hours = 97.47%
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Appendix F

Appendix G

Of the Respondents who Slept for 1-2 Hours
CA of 3.0-3.9 = 23 CA of 4.0-4.3 = 30 lalled Lo Answer Cuesuon = 23
Students who Slept for 3-4 Hours a Night
Students who Slept for 3-4 Hours a Night = 1.90%
Students who Did Not Sleep for 3-4 Hours a Night = 98.10%
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Appendix H


Appendix I
Of the Respondents who Slept for 3-4 Hours
Had a GPA of 2.0-2.9= 33.33% Had a GPA of 3.0 or Greater = 66.67%
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Appendix J

Appendix K
Respondents who Slept for 4-5 Hours
Slept for 4-5 Hours = 1.90% Did Not Sleep for 4-5 Hours = 98.10%
Of the Respondents who Slept for 4-5 Hours
Students Have a GPA of 2.0-2.9 = 33.33%
Students who had a GPA of 3.0 or Greater = 66.67%
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Appendix L

Appendix M
Students who Slept for 5-6 Hours
Students who Slept for 5-6 Hors = 19.62%
Students who did not Sleep for 5-6 Hours = 80.38%
Of the Students who Slept for 5-6 Hours
Students who had a GPA of 2.0-2.9 = 3.22%
Students who had a GPA of 3.0-3.9 = 64.52%
Students who had a GPA of 4.0-5.0 = 32.26%
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Appendix N


Appendix O
Students who Slept for 6-7 Hours
Students who Slept for 6-7 Hours = 31.01%
Students who did not Sleep for 6-7 Hours = 68.99%
Of the Students who Slept for 6-7 Hours
Students had a GPA lower than 3.0 = 2.04%
Students who had a GPA of 3.0-3.9 = 63.27%
Students who had a GPA of 4.0-5.0 = 34.69%
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Respondents who Received 7-8 Hours of Sleep a Night
Sudents who Received 7-8 Hours of Sleep a Night = 35.44%
Students who did not Receive 7-8 Hours of Sleep a Night = 64.56%
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Appendix P

Appendix Q

Of the Respondents who Received 7-8 Hours of Sleep a
Night
Students who had a GPA of 3.0-3.9 = 63.04%
Students who had a GAP of 4.0-5.0 = 36.96%
Respondents who Answered "Yes" to whether or
not a Parent or Legal Guardian ever Mentioned
Decreasing their Electronic Device Usage to
Benefit thier Self-Esteem
Respondents who Answered "Yes" = 15.19%
Respondents who Answered "No" = 84.81%
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Appendix R

Appendix S
Students who Answered Yes to Having a Friend or
Other Teenager Mention Decreasing their Electronic
Device Usage to Better their Self-Esteem
Students who answered "Yes" = 6.96% Students who Answered "No" = 93.04%
Of the Respondents who Answered "Yes"
Respondents who Reported Feelng Negative Emotions after Electronic Device
Usage = 72.72%
Students who Reported Feeling No Change or a Positive Change in their Emotions
after Electronic Device Usage = 45.45%
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Appendix T

Appendix U
Respondents who Answered "Yes" to whether or not
a Parent or Legal Guardian ever Mentioned
Decreasing their Electronic Device Usage to Benefit
thier Health
Respondents who Answered "Yes" = 15.9%
Respondents who Answered "No" = 84.1%
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Appendix V

Students by GPA
Blank 2.0-2.9 = 2.53% 3.0-3.9 = 61.39% 4.0-5.0 = 34.81%
Of the Respondents who had a GPA of 2.0-2.9
Respondents who Reported Feeling no Change or a Positive Change in Emotions
after Electronic Device Usage = 50%
Resondnets who Reported Feeling a Negative Change in Emotions after
Electronic Device Usage = 50%
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Appendix W

Appendix X

Of the Respondents who had a GPA of 3.0 to 3.9
Respondents who Reported Feeling no Change or a Positive Change in Emotions after
Electronic Device Usage = 81.44%
Respondents who Reported Feeling a Negative Chagne in Emotions = 24.74%
Of the Respondents with a GPA of 4.0-5.0
Respondents who Reported Feeling no Change or a Positive Change in Emotions after
Electronic Device Usage = 80%
Respondents who Reported Feeling a Negative Chagne in Emotions = 32.73%
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Appendix Y

Whether or Not a Parent or Legal Gaurdian Ever
Mentioned Decreasing the Use of Electronic Devices to
Benefit the Respondents Health
Respondents who Answered "Yes" a Parent or Legal Gaurdian Mentioning Decreasing the Use of
Electronic Devices to Benefit the Respondents Health = 53.16%
Respondents who Answered "No" to a Parent or Legal Gaurdian Mentioning Decreasing the Use of
Electronic Devices to Benefit the Respondents Health 46.84%
Last Name 53


Appendix Z

Appendix AA

Whether or Not a Friend or Other teenager Ever
Mentioned Decreasing the Use of Electronic Devices to
Benefit the Respondents Health
Respondents who Answered "Yes" to a Friend or Other Teenager Mentioning Decreasing
the Use of Electronic Devices to Benefit the Respondents Health = 8.23%
Respondents who Answered "No" to a Friend or Other Teenager Mentioning Decreasing
the Use of Electronic Devices to Benefit the Respondents Health = 91.77%
Students who Maintain a GPA of 3.0-3.9 or Higher
3.0-3.9 or Higher = 96.2% Lower Than a 3.0 = 3.8%
Last Name 54


Appendix BB


Appendix CC
Emotions Felt After Using Electronic Devices
Positive = 28.48% No Change = 55.70 Negative = 29.75%
Last Name 55


Appendix DD

Appendix EE
Students with More Than One Electronic Device
More Than One Device = 68.99% Only One Electronic Device = 31.01%
Of the Respondents who Stayed Up Past 11:00pm
Using Electronic Devices
Recived 7-8 Hours of Sleep = 14.81%
Received Less Than Seven Hours of Sleep or Greater Than Eight Hours of Sleep
= 85.19%
Last Name 56


Appendix FF

Appendix GG
Of the Respondents who Answered "No" to Having a
Friend or Other Teenager Mention Decreasing their
Electronic Device Usage to Better their Self-Esteem
Respondents who Reported Feeing Positive Emotions after Electronic Device Usage
= 26.53%
Respondents who Reported Feeling Negative Emotions after Electronic Device
Usage= 82.31%
Cf the kespondents who Answered "es."
Respondents who Reported Feeling Negative Emotions after Electronic Device
Usage = 54.17%
Students who Reported Feeling no Change or a Positive Change in their Emotions
after electronic Device Usage = 63.5%
Last Name 57


Cf the kespondents who Answered "No..."
Respondents who Felt no Change or a Positive Change in their Emotions after
Using Electronic Devices = 82.84%
Respondents who Felt a Nagative Change in Emotions after using Electronic
Devices = 33.58%
Last Name 58


Appendix HH
Interview Questions: Teacher (can be slightly modified to be compatible for a Doctor, parent etc.)
1. Do you believe electronic devices should be used in the classroom, why or why not?
2. If so, how often do you incorporate electronic devices into your daily lessons?
3. How often do you see students using electronic devices in the classroom?
4. What do you believe to be the effect electronic devices on a students self-esteem?
5. What do you believe to be the effect of electronic devices on a students personal health?
6. Do you notice any differences in a students behavior or habits who you see using an
electronic device compulsively? Such as increased tiredness, a change in social habits, a
change in in grades etc.
7. Are there any differences in academic achievement between those who use electronic
devices and those who do not?
8. Do you have children who attend high school?
9. If so, how have you seen electronic devices affect them? Use above questions if
applicable
Last Name 59


Appendix II
Interview Questions: High School Student or other Teenager
1. About how many hours a day do you spend on an electronic device (a computer, gaming
device, cell phone, television etc.)?
2. After using an electronic device, how do you feel? Refreshed, energized, tired, lonely
etc.?
3. About how late do you stay up at night using an electronic device?
4. (If applicable) How do you feel the next day having stayed up at night on an electronic
device?
5. Overall, what do you believe to be the impact of you electronic device usage on your
self-esteem?
6. Overall, what do you believe to be the impact of you electronic device usage on your
health?
7. Do you believe you electronic device usage impacts you academic achievements? Ask for
GPA if appropriate
8. What are some items (behavior, attitude etc.) you may have noticed about someone who
compulsively uses an electronic device? Have you noticed any characteristics associated with
yourself from using electronic devices?
Last Name 60


Appendix JJ
Mr. McKenna Interview Transcript
Do you believe electronic devices should be used in the classroom?
Can be beneficial (especially smartphones because it gives us much greater access to
information and different opportunities to do activities online. For example, some apps can be
very useful in the classroom. Concerns, students not using for appropriate purposes at the given
time. Gaming, sports sites Facebook etc. texting.
How often do you incorporate electronic devices into your daily lessons?
I utilize electronic devices daily [computer/projector]. For students use, weekly
depending on whether there are different things that can be done and whether its online or not.
How often do you see students using electronic devices in the classroom?
I catch students a few times in the classes using electronic devices when they shouldnt
be every class period.
How does it affect the self-esteem of the students?
Neutral or positive where some students who may not be strong on some in a given
content area, has a strong ability with technology would feel better about the classroom work.
There are only a select amount are not strong in the tech ability. I dont see much hurting in the
self-esteem.
How does it affect the health of the students?
I would be interested to understand if students are less physically active nowadays
because of the proliferation of electronic devices are students choosing not to do a certain
Last Name 61

activity because they can just play games on their phone. And I do believe that is the case for
some.
Do you notice any differences in a students behavior or habits who you see using an
electronic device compulsively? Such as increased tiredness, a change in social habits, a
change in in grades etc.?
Yes compulsively, I do see them more tired for I believe some of them are up late
gaming and many times with those students you see a negative change in their grades.
Are there any differences in academic achievement between those who use electronic
devices and those who do not?
I would also add in that those who were using electronic devices for non-academic
purpose compulsively will have their academic achievement lessened. Some can certainly use it
for appropriate purposes and it actually compliments their academic achievement, or boosts it.
Do you have children who attend high school?
Yes, a step son who attends high school but not here and he is a compulsive user of electronic
devise and it, he would benefit (academically) from not being so compulsive. He goes to Grand
River. He was in your sisters class. Some years with his dad and some years with us, back and
forth.
Notes:
Demeanor/deportment
Calm, collected confident.
Answered with assurance, looked at paper, I didnt have to ask.
Understanding of the topic, acknowledged the benefits and disadvantages of (mainly smart
phones) electronics use on students
Last Name 62

Took his time when answering
Last Name 63


Appendix KK
David Sawyer Student Interview Transcript
About how many hours a day do you spend on an electronic device (a computer, gaming
device, cell phone, television etc.)?
Over eight.
After using an electronic device, how do you feel? Refreshed, energized, tired, lonely etc.?
Happy.
About how late do you stay up at night using an electronic device?
11:00pm.
(If applicable) How do you feel the next day having stayed up at night on an electronic
device?
Sluggish.
Overall, what do you believe to be the impact of you electronic device usage on your self-
esteem?
It helps my self-esteem to a moderate to high level. It positively helps my life.
Overall, what do you believe to be the impact of you electronic device usage on your
health?
No affect.
Do you believe you electronic device usage impacts you academic achievements? Ask for
GPA if appropriate
It affects my academic achievement from a moderate to negative level.
Last Name 64

What are some items (behavior, attitude etc.) you may have noticed about someone who
compulsively uses an electronic device? Have you noticed any characteristics associated
with yourself from using electronic devices?
Sometimes they act without thinking. They are more stressed and angry. They can
manage more things at once.
Notes:
Focused, serious, honest. He had a hard time understanding some of the questions
Last Name 65


Appendix LL
Samuel Monroe Student Interview
About how many hours a day do you spend on an electronic device (a computer, gaming
device, cell phone, television etc.)?
One hour.
After using an electronic device, how do you feel? Refreshed, energized, tired, lonely etc.?
Bored.
About how late do you stay up at night using an electronic device?
Twelve pm.
(If applicable) How do you feel the next day having stayed up at night on an electronic
device?
Sluggish.
Overall, what do you believe to be the impact of you electronic device usage on your self-
esteem?
No affect.
Overall, what do you believe to be the impact of you electronic device usage on your
health?
Not applicable.
Do you believe you electronic device usage impacts you academic achievements? Ask for
GPA if appropriate
Helps.
Last Name 66

What are some items (behavior, attitude etc.) you may have noticed about someone who
compulsively uses an electronic device? Have you noticed any characteristics associated
with yourself from using electronic devices?
It makes them less social but not applicable to myself.
Notes:
Calm, complacent, focused and a slight lack of interest. He also had an air of control about
himself.

Last Name 67


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