{"id":52288,"date":"2016-08-30T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=52288"},"modified":"2025-08-26T23:31:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T06:31:32","slug":"zombie-scrolling-syndrome-zapping-childs-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/family-safety\/zombie-scrolling-syndrome-zapping-childs-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Zombie Scrolling Syndrome Zapping Your Child’s Health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"teens<\/p>\n

Congratulations, parent. Your kids survived the first few weeks of the new school year. Or did they? You may want to take a closer look. Some grumbling and transition fatigue is acceptable the first week or two of school. But those yawns and heavy eyes going into the third or fourth week? Well, those may be signs of a bigger issue.<\/p>\n

Kids need eight hours of sleep to show up emotionally, mentally, and physically ready to rock the school day (even more than eight depending on which expert has the mic.) Mobile phone use among teens spikes in the summer and that habit can be tough to break when the school year launches. If your child has a constant yawn, exceptional moodiness, and unusual stress (or even apathy) toward his or her school load, it’s possible he or she may have Zombie Scrolling Syndrome (ZSS)<\/em>. Yes, we coined that term for chronic late-night phone\u00a0scrollers, but it’s more than legit.<\/p>\n

What in the world could your kids be doing every night, all night<\/em>? Sometimes they are texting or Snapchatting friends but often it’s just mindless scrolling out of habit with no real destination or benefit \u2014 hence the zombie reference. According to my go-to gang of fun loving tweens and teens, they proudly spend untold hours looking at YouTube and Vine videos,\u00a0creeping on other people’s feeds<\/a>, looking for outfit ideas on Instagram, watching makeup tutorials on YouTube, and just zombie scrolling\u00a0habitually\u00a0without any concern for time. Do they get tired? “Sure, but the feeling passes,” they laugh.<\/p>\n

Not a good strategy for life, right?\"teens<\/p>\n

What both teens (and adults!) can so easily forget is the cost<\/em> of late night phone scrolling and how critical sleep is to our physical, mental, and emotional balance. Why do we forget so easily? In all seriousness \u2014 it’s because we are so tired!<\/p>\n

A lack of sleep consistently can have serious consequences. According to WebMD and other medical sources, a consistent lack of sleep can\u00a0have physical as well as emotional consequences such as:<\/p>\n