Technology and short form content have impacted student’s ability to sustain attention span and be original and creative with their work. Quick to access content has drastically changed people’s efficiency and time-management. Assignments that are supposed to be quick and easy have turned into prolonged tasks.
The average number of times someone picks their phone up in a single day is 120. People are highly dependent on their phones and tend to use them constantly throughout the day, out of habit instead of necessity.
“I’ll watch a YouTube video when I’m writing an essay, so it takes like five times longer than should,” sophomore Thomas Whitcomb-Fossum said.
Multi-tasking is actually proven to be less efficient than focusing on one thing at a time. It does not only affect efficiency, but quality too since when focus decreases, errors increase.
“I’ve definitely noticed that multitasking and constantly switching from homework to social media makes has affected me. Like, sometimes I can find myself doing a big project and like not being able to sit down through it all,” junior Grace Nelson said.
Humans attention spans have actually reduced from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to 8 seconds in recent years. Research blames this on “bite-sized” content, instant gratification, and overall digital distractions.
“A lot of the time I see students shut down when a project takes too long but, in reality, it takes time to make nice things,” art teacher Peter Koltun said.
Easy access technology has also impacted student creativity and originality, and it is not just because of AI. When students search for inspiration for an upcoming project, their feed and therefore their mind, is flooded with images of other people’s work.
“I can see it as two ways. I think sometimes it can be inspiring to watch tutorials or search for reference online, but other times, students get discouraged when they try to remake a piece and can’t make it the exact same. I think it’s all about having things be more personal. So I think the more it can be about how what happened to you, and where you’re going and where you’ve been, the more interested and authentic it’s going to be,” Koltun said.
Attention span is not fixed and can be improved in numerous ways such as getting more sleep, setting time limits on phones and finding other time-consuming hobbies.
“I think when I sit down with something, I can usually focus on doing it. I like to color, make bracelets and stuff like that. And reading especially has really helped bring me back to the world,” Nelson said.
Excessive phone use and the consumption of short form content has created a world of distraction that impacts students academic, social, and sports life. Staying original, creative and focused has never been harder in a world meant to distract. To preserve those skills, students can learn to set boundaries with phones and reclaim their time with new activities.
