Life on the phone

According to a study, 38% of American students can go no longer than ten minutes without checking their phone for messages.
This is not while stuck alone in an airport or waiting room, this is even while being with friends. Remarkable.

Reader Laurie told us:
I recently talked to an 17 year old girl, president of her class, very bright. She was texting someone as she was conversing with me. She was telling me that kids of her generation feel real anxiety about simply looking someone in the face and talking with them, without also being on an iPhone, or texting at the same time. She said it makes kids feel nervous to actually do stuff "in person," rather than through a screen. As she spoke to me she I had to kind of screw up my eyes and really concentrate, she was talking so fast, and she wasn't at all physically present. I actually commented on this to her,  and she said, "yeah, that's what I mean. I can't just talk to you and do nothing else."