After a long, trying day of school, it becomes a necessity to relieve the pressure that has been building up in your mind as a result of the monotonous trials of academia. Instead of reading “Catcher in the Rye” or memorizing the polyatomic ions, what better way to remedy the maddening stress of school than to snuggle up in your warmest blanket, turn off the lights, and watch as the comforting red backdrop slowly takes you away from all your stress and brings you into the world of Netflix?

“Once you start a show, you can’t stop,” junior Eleanor Cohen said.

Not only does Netflix have 44 million subscribers worldwide, 61 percent of those viewers binge-watch TV shows according to http://www.statisticbrain.com/netflix-statistics/. A Patriot survey conducted on March 23 showed that 50.52 percent of JC students have a Netflix account, and 23.71 percent have access to someone else’s.

“I have my own account but a lot of my friends use it. We all share mine so we can watch the shame show and talk about it,” junior McKenna McFadden said.

However, Netflix makes it particularly easy to lose track of time. “I normally watch two to three episodes a night, but that can easily turn into 10,” Cohen said.

Nationwide, Netflix users watch over one billion hours per month. Unlike regular television, Netflix has no commercials and offers viewers the ability to watch the next episode of their favorite show immediately after finishing the previous one, in a never-ending chain of distraction.

“My favorite thing about Netflix is the fact I can watch shows and movies whenever and wherever I want,” freshman Seth Anderson said. “Recently I watched all eight seasons of ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’ in two weeks.”

35 percent of the 102 students who answered The Patriot survey said they use Netflix multiple times a week, and 21.13 percent of students said they use it every day. “Netflix is my Friday night date and basically every other day that ends in ‘y,’” sophomore Carly Lyon said.

One of the most significant effects of Netflix is the amount of time it takes out of students’ evenings. With 32.39 percent of JC students watching 2-4 hours of Netflix a night, according to the survey, not a lot of time is left for after-school activities, eating, and homework. “It really is a distraction from reality,” senior Mark Michael said.

“When I’m doing school work all I want to do is watch Netflix. Sometimes I will give in to the temptation and then I get nothing done for the rest of the day,” senior April Moscati said.

“Netflix is great, but the only time it’s bad for me is when I get addicted to a show,” sophomore Holly Driver said.

Students even find themselves prioritizing when it comes to watching. “It depends on how busy I am, but sometimes I will sit in front of my TV and watch Netflix anywhere from 1-13 hours a week,” Moscati said.

For many students, Netflix is their way of decompressing after long, stressful days. “I watch Netflix to relax,” Lyon said, “but it’s way too easy to get sucked in. Once you’re hooked, you’re hooked.”

Hanna LeBuhn is a Lifestyles Editor and Billy Jump is a Copy Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.