Shocking: Families will spend more than a third of summer staring at screens like zombies

Summertime is almost here, meaning families will begin spending more time outdoors enjoying nature, right? Not necessarily. In modern times, devices seem to rule our attention. Things like computer monitors, televisions, smartphones, and tablets keep our eyes focused on screens like zombies.

To highlight just how bad things have gotten, a new survey reveals that families will spend more than a third of the 2017 summer season with their eyes glued to some sort of screen. To make matters worse, parents say that while they would prefer to do more activities away from devices, outings are far too expensive. A typical weekend family getaway with all things factored in, could average $2,328! Sadly, the overuse of "screens" are negatively impacting the health and behavior of children too.

"With warmer weather finally arriving in most parts of the country and the school year winding down to a close, Groupon asked 1,000 U.S. parents how much time their families plan to spend on their electronic devices this summer -- and the results were staggering. The average American family will spend an average of 35 days of their summer, which is the equivalent of more than one-third, using their electronic devices. The survey, which was conducted for Groupon's Funtacular Fun Fest, found that the average child will watch an estimated 60 movies and play 150 hours of video games over the summer months," says Groupon.

The company further says, "When asked how too much screen time affected their children, 77 percent of parents said screen exposure influenced their child’s mood, 62 percent said they face regular battles to get their children to put down their device and almost half said too much screen time impacts their sleep. And their children weren't the only ones impacted by too much screen time, parents said they feel like they personally waste one of out every four weekends per month and throw away 9 non-working days over the summer due to their own inactivity."

To learn more about the survey, you can check out the infographic below. What do you think about this state of affairs? Should parents do more to limit screen time for themselves and their children during summer? Is this the new normal for humanity? Tell me in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Emma Grimberg / Shutterstock