From Bye Bye Birdie to The Baby-Sitters Club to Mean Girls and everything in between, the cultural history of teen and tween girls and the telephone is long and storied. But how do the girls of today use the phone when it is no longer a landline but rather a back-pocket accessory?
Generation Z, the first generation of digital natives, has a relationship with phones and the internet like no other generation before. Notably, it is the first generation to learn to navigate an iPhone at the same age they learn to walk. While many say the proliferation of loneliness and unhappiness among this rising generation is phone-related, its safe to say the phone is not going away and if anything, its becoming a stronger staple of modern life.
To take a look into the contemporary relationship between teen girls and their phones, Yahoo Lifestyle asked three girls from across the country to track their phone usage for a day. Gone are the days of phone booths, and hamburger phones in bedrooms; but more than ever, a phone is a young girls connection to her world.
Fredrike Giron, 16, New York City
Fred Giron is an 11th grader in Manhattan. She loves soccer and The Handmaids Tale. On average, she spends two or more hours a day on her phone. I get so sick of being on my phone sometimes, she says. This is her day in screenshots.
Photos: Courtesy of Fredrike Giron; Artwork by Quinn Lemmers for Yahoo Lifestyle
7:10 a.m.: When I first wake up, I usually just like to see what notifications Ive gotten since falling asleep. I hate immediately going on my phone, so Ill quickly check the time and see if there are any urgent messages.
12 p.m.: I checked my email, mostly just to delete junk. I dont check my email too often unless there is someone I have to respond to.
3 p.m.: I went to the dance parade! The dancers were fabulously dressed, so of course I had to take a picture.
6:07 p.m.: As the day is winding down, Ill check Twitter because thats one of my sources of news. I love to see others reactions to huge events. Twitter definitely isnt my favorite social media app, purely because I cant bring myself to check it enough, but its a great way to snoop.
8:59 p.m.: I texted my friend to check in on her birthday party.
10:11 p.m.: And finally, when I lay down to go to bed, I had to delete Instagram. I felt sick after a day of constant checking, and suddenly felt a swarm of anxiety. It helps me to sleep better knowing its no longer on my phone, even though Ill end up re-downloading it the next day.
Audrey Farmer, 11, Kansas City, Mo.
Audrey Farmer is a sixth grader in Kansas City, Mo., and a proud Little Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program. On average, she spends three hours a day on her phone. I can only download apps with my parents permission, and we usually arent allowed to use [our phones] in school, she explains. This is her day in screenshots. Photos: Courtesy of Audrey Farmer; Artwork by Quinn Lemmers for Yahoo Lifestyle
Wake up: Just watched some YouTube for 15 minutes.
12 p.m.: Played around on Snapchat for a bit.
3 p.m.: Took a pic of my family while playing Clue.
6:09 p.m.: Just checked YouTube for notifications.
9 p.m.: Snapchat!!!! Just checking friends stories.
9:53 p.m.: Just checked YouTube one last time before bed.
Ina Bhoopalam, 17, Lincoln, Neb.
Ina Bhoopalam is 17 years old and lives in Lincoln, Neb., the Cornhusker State!! She is an activist, and the president of Girl Up Lincoln Public Schools a United Nations campaign helping girls take action to change the world. Ina says she typically spends two to three hours a day on her phone, and that its a key tool in her activism work, whether thats organizing meetings with state representatives or fighting for refugee education. This is her day in screenshots. Photos: Courtesy of Ina Bhoopalam; Artwork by Quinn Lemmers for Yahoo Lifestyle
7:34 a.m.: I just woke up and got ready, and now Im reading CNNs Top 5 to get up-to-date on the news before I head to my AP test. Im so glad to see one of the biggest feminist movements #MeToo in the news again. Seeing action being taken against injustices never fails to fuel me up in the morning.
11:01 a.m.: I just got back from my AP test, and Im checking out some certificates that my team made for our first Girl Up end-of-the-year awards banquet! They look great, and I cant wait to present them to the powerful youth fighting for gender equality in my community and around the world.
2:56 p.m.: Im on my way to a meeting with my secretary, assistant, and the rest of my presidential team at
Girl Up. Starbucks is my go-to coffee shop/meeting place, and Im ordering a sweet cream cold brew online so its ready as soon as I get there!
6:31 p.m.: Ive finished most of my meetings for the day, and Im on the way to go grad party hopping with my friends. I have dozens to go to, and even more activist graduation cords and donation jars to hand out.
9:11 p.m.: I usually check my email six to seven times a day. I love using Google Inbox because it filters my messages, prioritizes the most important ones, lets me snooze an email if Im not ready to answer it, reminds me when to follow up, and even writes automatic replies for me! Its one of my most useful and favorite apps it saves me SO much time!
1:49 a.m.: Im about to go to bed, and Im listening to Apple Musics Alternative Hits playlist to de-stress before going to sleep.
Poster Comment:
I changed the title to something more truthful.
This protocol and routine is likely very typical. Be sure to CHECK OUT THOSE PHONE SCREEN SHOTS.
As you can see, these little future p***y-hat wearing, man-hater fascists awaken immediately to fake political "news" and "Lifestyle news" which promote and normalize everything homo, "trans", freaky, and sexual. And predictably, to be hateful of everything Trump, traditional or conservatism.
This coming generation (referred to as the "Z-Gen") is being groomed to become Dem-Leftist social activists and crusaders. Their daily incoming smartphone informs/condition them with daily "notifications" of select "news" from G00gle Propaganda Inc, Yahoo Propaganda Inc, YouBoob, and Twitter.
THE usual Dem agenda and talking points are being fed here like rat poison pellets as you can plainly see.
What does it remind you of? MAYBE...
Adolph Hitler, Nov. 6, 1933:
"Your child belongs to us already.
What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing else but this new community.
Hitler On May 1, 1937:
The youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this reason we have set before ourselves the task of inoculating our youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted and therefore unspoiled...this new Reich will give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing.
Karl Marx:
Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily destroyed.
Hitlery Clinton:
"As @FLOTUS [Bigfoot] said, the choice in this election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four years of their lives. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 15, 2016(Or also consider Hitlery's, 'It Takes A [Marxist] Village').