A look at different tools to reduce teen screen time

Well, many parents worry about how much time their kids spend scrolling on their phones. And according to one study, teenagers spend about eight and a half hours a day staring at screens. It's too much. But there are some ways to help. Meg Oliver asked three high school students to try out different tools to reduce screen time and has their results. At Clifton High School in New Jersey, senior Gianna Cologne is a three-sport athlete, sophomore Sebastian Fazio loves math and baseball, and Hamza Ramash is in the band and a goalie on the hockey team. Three productive students who admit they seriously struggle with screen time. After you've been scrolling for a long time, how does it make you feel? It makes me feel like a dream, like I haven't really done much, I'm just like sitting here doing nothing. The students spend anywhere between four to sometimes even 13 hours a day on their phones, with bedtime the biggest downfall. Sometimes when I went to bed, I watched for a little bit, but then I get a little addicted. The algorithms on these phones are so strong. Is it possible for you just to cut down on your screen time by yourself? No. I want all of you to take out your phone. We asked them to take a seven-day challenge to cut down on screen time by testing different tools. We gave Cologne Brick, which blocks apps with a physical barrier you can leave at home. Ramosh tried the free app ScreenZent, which asks you to wait before you start scrolling. And we taught Fazio how to use Grayscale, which removes the color. Look up Instagram now on Grayscale. It's not good. No, it doesn't look good at all. It takes away all the joy in it. For the next week, they agreed to use these tools and not take their phones to bed. Three days in. I've been doing other things like diamond painting. Focusing more on schoolwork, less distractions, more sleep. I feel like I've been more energetic waking up, and I feel like I've been communicating more with family and friends. Hi. How was your week? Good. Seven days later, we reconvened. Gianna, how was it using Brick? It was honestly pretty good. It definitely helped me be more productive. Did anybody notice anything different about you? My dad. Because I wanted to go to practice in the morning. He's like, in the morning? Sebastian, how was using Grayscale? It was pretty good. I actually went down a lot. I was at three hours before, and I'm at 20 minutes per day. 20 minutes a day? Right here. How does that feel? Great. After taking this challenge, what do you want other kids to know? You don't need to depend on your phone for everything. There's so much more out in the world besides just sitting on your phone for hours and scrolling through TikTok or Instagram. Meg Oliver, CBS News, Clifton, New Jersey. You know what? When I see this, I wish that they had... You know how they say the horse has already left the barn? The phones are out there and all the social media and everything that entertains the kids is already out there? I wish that they had this on the front end before they released it to the public. I mean, hindsight is 20-20. Because now, you can say this all you want, but there are lots of parents who have no interest in taking that phone away or shutting that phone down from kids, which leads to these problems. I've listened to you talk about how to try to manage phones with kids. I've got young nieces and my brother's going through the same thing of like, they start screaming if you take the phone away. How do you find this balance? Even on a personal level, you get this notification at the end of the day of how much time you've been on your phone. Mine hit eight hours the other day and I went, ugh. Whether you're a kid or whether you're just trying to figure it out, it's hard. It's very hard. We do everything on our phones. All the information's right there, so the moment that you get some downtime and you're out somewhere, you're like, oh, here we go. I think, too, how to get kids to socialize. I watch you talk about how to get kids to engage. I don't know how you fight that battle. It is a tough one.