Scarlett Mojica gets dozens of notifications on her phone each day. Ding—there’s a new show on Netflix! Buzz—a friend wants to play a game on Roblox and chat on Discord. Ping—there’s a sale on lip gloss! 

The messages come at all hours of the day. They buzz when Scarlett’s trying to do her homework, during dinner, and even in the middle of the night. 

“It’s annoying,” says the sixth-grader from Los Angeles, California. Sometimes the only way Scarlett can focus is to turn her phone off completely. 

A new study found that many kids are even more inundated with alerts than Scarlett is. An organization called Common Sense Media recently surveyed about 200 kids ages 11 to 17. It found that about half of them get at least 237 notifications each day. Some get close to 5,000! 

All those alerts can not only be distracting but also harm your health. How can you stop them from disrupting your life?

Scarlett Mojica gets dozens of notifications on her phone each day. Ding! There’s a new show on Netflix! Buzz! A friend wants to play a game on Roblox and chat on Discord. Ping! There’s a sale on lip gloss! 

The messages come at all hours of the day. They buzz when Scarlett’s trying to do her homework. They also arrive during dinner. She even gets them in the middle of the night. 

“It’s annoying,” says Scarlett. She’s a sixth-grader from Los Angeles, California. Sometimes the only way Scarlett can focus is to turn her phone off completely. 

A new study found that kids get a lot of phone notifications. Many kids are even more inundated with alerts than Scarlett is. An organization called Common Sense Media recently surveyed about 200 kids. Their ages were 11 to 17. The survey found that about half the kids get at least 237 notifications each day. Some get close to 5,000! 

All those alerts can be distracting. They can also harm your health. How can you stop them from disrupting your life?

Scarlett spends about six hours a day on her phone, sometimes more on weekends. A big reason is all the notifications. Each ping encourages her to go back to her device. 

“Most of the time I’m on my phone just to see what notifications I got and who texted,” Scarlett explains.

Of course, some notifications are necessary. Maybe your parents need to text you. Plus, people don’t usually respond to every single alert.

Still, notifications can easily get out of hand. More than two-thirds of kids in the study admit that their phones are hard to put down. Amanda Lenhart helped conduct the study. She says notifications are one way some tech companies keep people hooked on their phones (see sidebar, below). 

Scarlett spends about six hours a day on her phone. Sometimes she spends more time using it on weekends. A big reason is all the notifications. Each ping encourages her to go back to her device. 

“Most of the time I’m on my phone just to see what notifications I got and who texted,” Scarlett explains.

Of course, some notifications are necessary. Maybe your parents need to text you. Plus, people don’t usually respond to every single alert.

Still, notifications can easily get out of hand. More than two-thirds of kids in the study admit that their phones are hard to put down. Amanda Lenhart helped conduct the study. She says notifications are one way some tech companies keep people hooked on their phones (see sidebar, below).