Cold breezes, cozy sweaters, and the glow of your neighbor’s Christmas lights seeping through your window… The fireplace is burning bright, and you are relaxing with your friends or family, drinking homemade hot cocoa and binge-watching Christmas movies. That’s what you think the holidays should be like. A joyful occasion with no stress, no disruptions, just pure joy. But settling into reality, you realize that your holiday season is not like that at all. Instead, you’re freezing, it’s dark outside, and you are forced to stay home with nothing to do.

   The so-called “most wonderful time of the year” is now the time of the year where people repeat old habits by spending their holiday breaks mindlessly scrolling through their phones and “bed rotting,” where electronics become the focus of countless hours and stop people from truly enjoying the holidays. Freshman Nethra Venkat said, “…kids are drained from going to school because of either homework or other commitments.” This exhaustion is a viable reason to do something that requires little physical exertion and instead brings pure enjoyment.

   According to an article about teenagers’ screen time, homework, sports and other extracurriculars can put a lot of pressure on kids during the school year. When Winter Break arrives, there are no more early alarms to wake them up or hours of homework each day to keep them busy, causing them to fall into the exact same trap that happens every break. They end up in an endless phone loop lasting their whole break (ucsf.edu).

   But despite being drained from school, why do people truly feel bored during the holidays? Why do they end up on their phones? Maybe friends are out of town on vacation, they may not have a driver’s license or a ride to get somewhere with parents at work, or one may simply actually be tired. The list goes on and on. Freshman Muniira Aden said, “I’m usually stuck at home with nothing to do other than watch movies.” This is a common case for many teenagers.

   In the past few years, more and more people have missed out on holiday experiences. Instead of enjoying Winter Break as you did when you were five years old – by playing with toys you were ready to replace, feeling excitement when you heard the ring of Christmas bells, and waiting for the night you were going to catch Santa – you now hear the sound of TikToks and feel the beaming of a bright screen reflected on your face.

   According to the New York Post, “An average day during a school week would amount to 88 minutes on a screen, but this rises to 127 minutes — more than two hours — in the holidays” (nypost.com). This is the easy option. People are compelled to do something that takes no energy, something that gives them time to rest. But there are good and bad results from spending your break on a screen.

   While spending time on screens may feel like time to wind down and relax, which may be nice after spending all your time working, it can also take away from the limited time you have to spend with family and friends. This could also be time spent taking care of oneself, self care.

   Holiday boredom has increasingly resulted in losing oneself in electronics. This can cause people to miss out on all the holiday fun, sitting for hours glued to a screen. So why not make a plan for this Winter Break. Make a commitment to get out of bed, find a way to get around (hello public transportation) and enjoy this wonderful city of San Diego during the holidays.