Valarie Natale – It’s a Monday morning. You’re tired, bored and unenthusiastic about learning English. Your iPad chimes and you automatically check it. Next think you know, you’re playing Candy Crush. Teen distractions are normal, but when does it start to get too distracting?

Kayleah Stanley, junior believes that it’s healthy to have a small amount of distraction here and there. “Those teens that are always distracted can probably look forward to serving people through a fast food window for many years.” She also stated that the only way you’ll get anywhere in life is to focus to main objectives and goals you set yourself to.

High school can be a busy place, especially after school, when parents are irritated about student drivers and other parents. When it comes to being on the road, teens have to be more than safe when dealing with distractions.

Breonna Bennink, junior doesn’t text while driving. She thinks it’s irresponsible and unsafe. “They shouldn’t do it. No text is more important than your own and/or other lives,” she explained. “If I were in the car with somebody that was texting and driving, I would tell them to put the phone away.”

We all know that teens will probably go to a party where drugs and alcohol are present. Mrs. Spencer, an AP environmental science and conceptual physics teacher told me,“Teens are always going to party. They need to find a good balance between social life and academics.” Spencer explained that there are tons of ways teens can hang out without it being centered around drugs. You can play video games, talk, and watch movies.

Students need to be aware of the consequences distractions can cause. Whether it being drugs, drama, alcohol and texting whilst driving, these things can change your life forever. Www.textinganddrivingsafety.com said that 34% teens say they have texted while driving. We, as teens need to learn to balance out distractions from academics, social life and driving. If you need more time to yourself, plan that out so you can be sure to have extra time for that and still get homework done. If you need to put your phone in your glove compartment, then do so. Like Stanley said, a little distraction is healthy.