Teens of Bay Area

Did you know that…

1. Do new laws like California Governor Gavin Newsom’s phone ban bill actually create a tangible experience for public school students? Sure, the new bill does sound annoying. But let’s also face it — it doesn’t change that much. According to a National Center of Education Statistics, 77% of classrooms in California already had policies or systems that disallowed the usage of the phone. 

2. According to a study from the National Library of Medicine, when a backpack weighs up to 10-25% of an individual’s body weight, they tend to have back and shoulder pain, which can lead to bad posture. Still, although the average high schooler’s backpack weighs 18.4 pounds, it can easily weigh up to 30 pounds. Yikes.

3. You probably already knew that multitasking slows down your productivity. But by how much? According to the American Psychological Association, multitasking can slow your productivity by up to 40%. That means you’re almost going at half the pace than you would be if you focused on one task.

4. Curious about sleep averages across high school grades? Well… this will surprise you: according to a study published on NIH, the grade that sleeps the least are seniors. Unsurprisingly, though, juniors come in second (worse). Sophomores and freshmen have less severe sleep deprivation — though still not no sleep deprived though. 

5. According to Palo Alto online, the average number of hours it takes for students to complete their homework per night is 90 to 120 minutes. Not surprisingly, juniors spend most time studying per night, with their average at 134 minutes.