Final answer:
Excessive use of cell phones, such as spending 8 hours a day, could negatively impact your GPA, as it can reduce the time spent on studying and attending classes, which are crucial factors for academic success.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question of how spending 8 hours a day on your cell phone impacts your GPA is not directly answerable with a quantitative measure and ultimately depends on individual habits and circumstances. However, we can rely on research and studies that shed light on the topic. A hypothesis test conducted on whether teenagers now spend more time on the phone than the previous average of 4.5 hours per week showed a sample mean of 4.75 hours with a sample standard deviation of 2.0. This does suggest an increase in phone usage among teenagers based on the given sample.
Considering the impacts of technology on students' lives, it is important to note that excessive phone usage can detract from the crucial activities that contribute to a strong GPA, such as studying and attending classes. The dependence on cell phones has been noted in literature, indicating that a significant portion of cell phone users check their phones for messages or calls even when not prompted and many report not being able to imagine living without their phone.
If we examine an equation that describes factors influencing the GPA, it states that the GPA depends on three elements: combined SAT score, class attendance, and the number of study hours. These factors have weights of 0.25, 0.25, and 0.50 respectively. With cell phone usage encroaching on study time and potentially class attendance, it stands to reason that excessive use can negatively impact a student's GPA. Hence, in order to raise a GPA, a student should focus on studying more and not skipping class.
Research also emphasizes the negative impact of phone use during class, where students who engage in digital multi-tasking like checking social media or playing games during lectures tend to achieve lower grades than those who don't use their devices during class. Therefore, it is advised to put the phone away during class activities to potentially improve academic performance.