Social media apps such as Instagram can have a negative affect on students’ attention spans. Photo credit to Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash, Creative Commons

Students are becoming increasingly more distracted in and out of school due to a multitude of reasons: their attention spans are on the decline and focus levels are reaching a low.

Distractions can lead to less focus and when introduced to new and unfamiliar subjects students may resort back to what brings them peace of mind. “I feel safe with my routine and in the things I enjoy, sometimes school can get in the way of that and it makes it feel harder to accomplish,” said senior Alex VanUtrecht.

There are distractions everywhere students look and one of the biggest is social media apps such as TikTok and Instagram which can provide people with a quick spike of dopamine and can create a behavior of endless scrolling. This dopamine while scrolling makes us crave short spikes of dopamine more and more; therefore attention spans will be limited to a shorter period of time.

Short videos and conversations that grab attention are taking over our lives while long activities and spending time with friends and family are on the decline. Many teens can not go long without checking their phone and seeing the newest information provided through it.

“Sometimes I find myself spending more time on my phone than anything else. I will play video games instead of studying, scroll on my phone while in the gym or constantly check Snapchat throughout the day,” said VanUtrecht.

Cellphones constantly fight for people’s attention, and the more they give in to these temptations, the worse that the issues related to attention span become. Students can lose focus easier, be more tempted to rely on phones and have trouble when trying to complete a long task.

For students, focusing on studying and completing assignments can be harder than the actual contents in their classes. Procrastination becomes even more prevalent and late assignments are stacking up for students due to shorter attention spans.

“Sometimes my work feels endless and tiresome, I find scrolling easy and it is something I can always rely on, whenever I have free time I pull out my phone over everything else. It is a bad habit that I hope to try and eliminate,” said junior Riley Kramer. 

While many think that limiting time on devices may be the best solution, it is a hard addiction to drop. Many fail to do so because people feel as though it is a necessity in their lives. The satisfaction that can be felt from devices is high and makes them more addicting.

With all of the distractions around students, it is often hard for them to stay focused and can often lead to shorter attention spans in and out of school. However, solutions such as screen time restrictions set by parents and other measures to get teens away from their phones can be used to help solve this problem.