Is Blue Light Really That Bad
Although introduced to the world in 2007, it was not until 2012 that smartphones, particularly the iPhone, swept society by storm. Now, it is hard to remember a life before we were able to occupy our time with a six-inch entertainment device sitting in our pockets. With the introduction of smart devices has come so many benefits to our world that we tend to overlook one enormous negative: our addiction to smart devices, particularly in the evening hours, has altered our sleeping patterns without us even realizing it. We stare into our screens, hoping to catch one more laugh at a hilarious meme or a few more minutes messaging our friends, but with that comes the detrimental effects of blue light. It would be appropriate, therefore, for the sake of the health of our bodies, to set screen time limitations to help us restore appropriate sleeping patterns. Eliminating screen time one hour before going to bed, paired with using night mode once the sun goes down, will improve the quality of sleep.
We have never heard of or seriously thought about blue light before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the rise of blue-light glasses. So for almost a decade, blue light has been impacting our retinas and circadian rhythm as published in “Research Progress About The Effect And Prevention of Blue Light On Eyes” in 2018. But because of a lack of immediate harmful effects, it’s easy for us to say that blue light does not or has not impacted our health. Now that the world for the most part knows what blue light is, some wear blue-light glasses during the day for schoolwork or our careers while in front of the computer screen, but even this was a big phase during the early parts of the pandemic, and most us are certainly not wearing such before bed while staring at our phones. Yet the bright phone screen late in the evening when the night sky is dark is worse than daytime computer usage when the sun is out, according to “Why You Should Use Dark Mode on the iPhone.” The effects of blue light are real and build up slowly over time, and limiting blue light exposure is critical to preserving the overall health of our bodies.
Let’s look at peoples’ sleep needs by age. “Screen Time and Sleep: Children and Teenagers” shares that children ages 3-5 years need 10-13 hours of sleep per night, kids and pre-teens need 9-11 hours of sleep per night, and teenagers need 8-10 hours per night. We know from “Research Progress About The Effect And Prevention of Blue Light On Eyes” that “if blue light is excessive, especially at night when melatonin production peaks, it can not only damage the retina through the ocular surface, but can also stimulate the brain, inhibit melatonin secretion, and increase corticosteroid production, thereby destroying hormonal secretion and directly affecting sleep quality.” So we also know that blue light before bed impacts “how quickly your child falls asleep and how long your child sleeps,” as explained in “Screen Time and Sleep: Children and Teenagers.” This means that if we fail to monitor teens by taking the phone away or turning off Netflix one hour before bed, then we fail to meet our growing bodies’ sleeping needs all the while saying “okay, continue damaging your retina, sweetheart!”
According to the article, “Here’s How Technology Affects Our Life,” published in The Economic Times, “Technology has altered human physiology. [The emission of blue light] affects memory, attention spans, and sleep cycles. This is attributed to a scientific phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to alter its [behavior] based on new experiences.” It is critical, then, to set screen time limitations and use dark mode once the sun sets; “ “Why You Should Use Dark Mode on the iPhone” explains that “dark mode helps protects your eyes from the traditionally blinding whiteness of computer and phone screens” and alleviates the headaches and eye pain associated with excessive screen time.
According to the video, Why you don’t need blue light lenses, Dr. Sunir Garg an ophthalmologist reacts to how a store in a mall that mentions that blue light can “tear your eyes out” by saying “ it’s not something, you know, that we see and I think people are exaggerating stuff”. Dr. Sunir Garg is basing these statements based on what he knows and may not really be up to date from when he had made these statements. He had later on stated in another part of the video, “I don’t have patients coming in ever with any signs of damage to their retinas from looking at their screen all day.” Garg is basing it on what he sees and what his prior knowledge which is only one group of people which is seen in his office. Experimental studies are being conducted every day about blue light and they are finding more negative than positive as they move further into their studies.
“Sleep Disorders Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease: A Perspective” notes that sleep disturbances are linked to Alzheimer’s, dementia, obesity, and cancer. These illnesses are terrible to have but are overlooked by many as they are aware that they don’t occur right away. The possibility of these illnesses drastically rises over time as there is an increase in the amount of blue light exposure on our bodies. We all look at the present not and not the negative effects that can occur in the foreseeable future which are detrimental. In the United States obesity is common and having an addiction to screens doesn’t help. Not only are the smart devices in today’s world addictive but they cause us to ignore our health and are willing to watch Netflix all day and night. Cancer is very serious and so is the blue light that can lead to cancer. Alzheimer’s which is common to many is also a common illness that occurs as the blue light from our screens the formation of brain plaques and interferes with short-term memory. The blue light that comes from our smartphones can cause us to have dementia as the blue light disrupts the circadian rhythm which can cause depression and aggravation. If watching one more TikTok before bed every night is worth the risk to said person, then so be it.
References
Screen time and sleep: children and teenagers. Australia. Raising Children
Caprito, A. June 3, 2019. Why you should use dark mode on the iPhone. CNET
Zhao, Z. Zhou, Y. Tan, G. Li, J. November 12, 2018. Research Progress About The Effect And Prevention of Blue Light On Eyes. China. NCBI
November 22, 2019.Why you don’t need blue light lenses: Hidden camera investigation (Marketplace). Canada.CBC News.
Brzecka, A. Leszek, J. Ejma, M. May 31, 2018. Sleep Disorders Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease: A Perspective. Frontiers.
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Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
Hey, professor, I was wondering if I took the right approach on the rebuttal argument and also if the title that I have used is a bit misleading to the reader.
This is very strong overall, NJ, and your deployment of supporting materials gets better with each paper. You don’t appear to have identified a credible “Worthy Opponent,” however, so it’s hard to see how you can claim to be responding to your readers’ likely objections. Is there a source you have found that considers the hullaballoo over blue light to be just hysteria? That would be very beneficial. If you can find and refute such a source, you’ll overcome what might be unconscious objections in readers you’ve failed to convince in a positive way.
That didn’t take long. I did a simple Google Search for:
the “blue light” scare
and got a bunch of YouTube and documents hits from popular media.
Your “target readers” are concerned about their health, wary of their exposure to too much screen time, but haven’t yet made up their minds about the hazards of blue light. To convince them (the only people in the world you have a chance of persuading), you’ll have to overcome whatever contrary opinions they’ve heard.
View at Medium.com
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/28/blue-light-led-screens-cancer-insomnia-health-issues
Here’s a sample of the sort of position you need to counteract, from the Guardian article:
You can’t just discount positions like O’Hagan’s, but you can point out that he’s depending on debunked studies, or that we know more about the light spectrum than he did when he made these remarks, or that he has a vested interest in minimizing the danger, or . . . other standard refutation techniques.
Does that help focus your attention?
If responding directly to Worthy Opponents requires words you can’t budget, you can eliminate most or all of your Conclusion to this essay.
One more thing about “person.” You’ve eliminated 2nd person from your work. Congratulations. Now see if you can stop objectifying people “not as well informed” as yourself. Start with this:
Instead of
Go for the always reliable 1st person plural:
Hey Professor, I have added an extra paragraph including one of the sources that you have recommended. It makes more sense why a source like that needs to be in this argument. I the paragraph in the right place and does it make sense. I have eliminated all the “you” in my writing and have replaced it with us and we as I have to include myself. Can I please get a regrade?
Your rebuttal paragraph is very confusing, NJ.
Garg made his comment to REFUTE the dangers of blue light. Read it as if he thinks it’s a nonexistent danger that should be ignored.
Am I reading that right? He can’t believe “THIS” has become such a big thing. And his comment means “the worry about blue light dangers DOES NOT come from the medical community.”
But you interpret his meaning to be that opthalmologists SHOULD BE WARNING the public about the dangers.
Again, am I reading that right?
Something about the grammar of this sentence makes it unintelligible:
What meaning are you obscuring by using THIS twice without clear antecedents? What is THIS opinion? What is THIS advice?
NEW PARAGRAPH STARTS HERE:
It has nothing to do with your Refutation paragraph, so give it its own paragraph.
I’m sorry that incorporating the video as a Refutation source has not worked out better, yet, NJ, but I think the material is there if used correctly. You just need to find one of those videos to make a clear statement that the dangers of blue light have been grossly exaggerated. I’m pretty sure they all say that.
Hi professor, I have changed the source and found that the videos were more helpful as there were statements that were made that were easy to refute although he is a doctor and I am not. Can I please get a regrade and I this source a better fit and did I explain it enough in the paragraph. I also had split the paragraph that you said doesn’t belong to the refuting paragraph is that paragraph fine in the essay or does it need to be taken out.
Doctor Garg is completely correct and irrefutable when he says, “Disreputable salespeople are exaggerating when they tell you blue light can tear your eyes out.”
Surely you see that he’s correct to object to that scare tactic by irresponsible and very pushy salespeople trying to sell blue light protection.
Ditch that part of the claim completely. It damages your own credibility.
Dr. Garg is, however, refutable if he’s drawing scientific conclusions from the small sample size of his own practice without actually testing for retina damage from blue light overexposure.
So. What do we have left?
Sentence by sentence on you final paragraph.
—Since the claim is already made in the title, you want to emphasize what ISN’T mentioned in the title (the other three associations). So: “Sleep Disorders Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease: A Perspective” notes that sleep disturbances LEAD NOT ONLY TO Alzheimer’s BUT ALSO TO dementia, obesity, and cancer.
—The illnesses are overlooked NOT BECAUSE people ARE AWARE they’re delayed responses but because THEY DON’T BELIEVE there will be late developments. So: These terrible illnesses are often overlooked—even denied—because they don’t occur right away.
—Fine.
—NOT AND NOT? Eliminate this sentence. You’ve already made this claim in the “late development” sentence.
—Maybe: Americans are obese for many reasons. Apparently our screen addiction is causing us to ignore our health, skimp on exercise, and watch Netflix day and night.
—The study does not explain the association of blue light to cancer, but certainly obesity is closely associated with it.
—The connection is clearer with Alzheimer’s: blue light from our screens HASTENS the formation of brain plaques, WHICH IN TURN interferes with short-term memory.
—AND FINALLY, the blue light that comes from our smartphones can TRIGGER dementia BY DISRUPTING the circadian rhythm, CAUSING depression and aggravation.
—No need to condemn your readers to ill health, here, NJ.
—Maybe: All that ill health is too big a price to pay for one more TikTok before bed.
Again, I appreciate your commitment to the process. We could still do this for every paragraph.
Revise those last two paragraphs for your regrade.