Instead of “doom-scrolling” and obsessive social media use, students are turning to non-tech related activities. Learning or growing in hobbies provides students with a consistent opportunity to busy their hands and relax their minds. 

  Grady Parsons is a junior whose hobby is working on his car. Parsons explained, “I work on my car for hours at a time. Most of the time, I work on my car after school till it gets dark out.”  A lot of students get creative with their hobbies, either teaching themselves or having others teach them. Parsons exclaimed, “I’m just kinda learning by myself and trying to figure it out.”

While some hobbies are new to some teenagers, for others it has been in their life since they were young. Isabella Roma, a freshman, stated, “I draw because it’s something that I grew up doing and that I chose to do when I [was] young, so I just kinda stuck with it…Recently I did sell one of my pieces. I did get quite a bit of money

from that. I plan on selling my art in the future,” Roma shares. Hobbies can sometimes act as a job which can be helpful for students who do not have a stable job. 

Another thing that hobbies are helpful for is to calm down the brain or to use as a stress reliever. Roma explained, “Having a hobby just gives you something to do as well as helping with your mental health and all that. And having a phone and being on social media all the time destroys your mental health.” With mental health being a top challenge for high school students, it is good to have a hobby to keep hands busy instead of being on technology all the time.

Hobbies are a good way to keep busy, whether to have a clear head or to stay away from technology. Hobbies can help encourage creativity, determination, and personal growth. With teenagers not being on phones all the time, hobbies have the ability to be expressed more openly. Students have more opportunities than ever to explore new passions and interests.