AMARAH GHORI
DEI Chair & Asst. Opinion Editor
In today’s world, technology is inescapable.
Phones, laptops, social media and the constant buzzing takes over our lives, especially as college students.
But as we continue to use technology in our society, the effect on students’ ability to focus shifts. It’s alarming to think that, according to research, students have shorter and shorter attention spans than years prior.
Studies show that as of 2022, students’ attention spans were at five seconds. In the year 2000, our attention spans were at 12 seconds.
Our attention spans will only keep decreasing as time goes on, and it’s up to us to find a balance between how much we use our phones and how much we focus on other things.
Shorter Attention Spans
With the constant overload of information, it’s becoming harder for college students to focus for extended periods of time.
As the attention spans decrease, it becomes apparent that it’s harder for students to keep up their attention and get their work done.
This translates into difficulty concentrating on lectures, studying or engaging deeply with different assignments outside of class.
The overuse of phones seems to be the culprit.
It’s easy to mindlessly pick up your phone in the middle of doing something important, just to “check in.”
Even doing that for a few seconds of your time disrupts your brain’s flow of concentration. The result is that students will feel overwhelmed trying to meet the demands of their work.
Dopamine and Digital Reward Systems
As a college student myself, it’s apparent that phones have become an addiction to our generation. I feel the effects of this addiction as much as anyone else.
When a student receives a notification or uses social media, the brain will release dopamine.
According to Dr. Anna Lembke, a world-leading expert on addiction, “We turn to [phones] for quick hits, seeking attention, validation and distraction with each swipe, like and tweet.”
This short-term gratification gives us our addiction-like behaviors, as students will continue to crave the dopamine rush from phones.
Professor Rachel Kerr, a communication professor at Fredonia who teaches media technology classes, explains this idea further.
“[A phone] addiction physically crumples the body’s posture, and dims one’s vision. It includes making poor decisions that offer short-term gratification (dopamine shot) but [negative] long-term consequences. Social media business paradigms are entirely dependent on and successful because of that addict-like behavior. They create addiction and then feed it. It’s on purpose. It’s not a mistake.”
This addiction to quick digital rewards can make it difficult for students to engage in real-world activities that require longer-term focus and effort, such as studying or staying on task.
The Consequences of Overstimulation
Phones are constantly buzzing and social media refreshes with new content every second, and for students like myself, this bombards us with a steady stream of information at all times.
This gives students overstimulation, where the brain becomes overwhelmed with everything it is encountering.
When overstimulation occurs, students can experience feelings of anxiety, stress and being on edge. This can also lead to the inability to concentrate on one task for an extended period of time.
Kerr further emphasizes the physical impact of over-engaging with the media: “The constant stream of media images that range through everything is impossible to digest healthily, but it does feed anxiety. Over-engaging online is as physical an experience as eating too much food, which makes humans sick.”
Kerr makes very valid points: overstimulation as a result of excessive phone use can make our brains feel like mush. This will then negatively impact our mental health and performance in school.
Instant Gratification
The design of our most popular social media apps feeds into this cycle by allowing us to have this dopamine overload. This is because of the instant gratification it offers.
The rapid amounts of content we are given condition our minds to expect fast and easy rewards.
When there is a lot of instant gratification, we then have a harder time being patient, which in turn causes difficulty completing assignments and other tasks as a college student.
Procrastination is another aspect of our short attention spans. When you have the option to scroll and get a rush of quick dopamine, why would your brain want to focus on that test you need to study for?
The short-term mental pleasure of using your phone will begin to outweigh the tasks that you need to focus on for future success.
Finding Balance
While we live in an age where technology is all around us at all times, it’s okay to set boundaries and to take steps to improve your focus.
I like to set timers for myself, where I make sure I don’t pick up my phone in that timeframe and work as hard as I can on an assignment to get it done before the timer goes off.
Finding time to do things that don’t involve using your phone is also helpful in restoring our attention spans. Spending time with family and friends, going for a walk or reading can help us out in breaking our dependency.
While implementing these intentional changes, know that you can find balance and better ways to preserve your mental well-being, which will lead to increased success.