Throughout the year, RKYHS students are exposed to programs and speakers that focus on helping them make healthy choices. Students recently had the opportunity to hear from Adam Alter, New York Times best-selling author and associate professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business. A strong focus of Alter’s academic research and books is why so many people today are addicted to behaviors such as incessant smart phone and internet usage and video game playing.

Speaking from his office in New York City, Alter detailed the negative impact social media can have on our personal satisfaction, discussed how filling up our free moments with screens lessens our opportunities for creativity and personal interactions, and offered alarming statistics about the effects of screen time on our attention spans.

In his engaging manner, Alter offered practical tips on how the students can be more mindful of their screen consumption, small changes they can implement to begin to limit their time on screens and how to create their own “stopping cues” that currently don’t exist with the limitless nature of screens.