Students struggle to focus in era of digital overload
Sahaj Datta | The Chronicle
From endless notifications, virtual meetings and constant scrolling, an overload of screen time is draining students’ energy, leaving them struggling to focus.
Digital fatigue is a term that refers to the mental and physical exhaustion that comes from constant and prolonged exposure to screens. During the pandemic, daily life revolved around screens, leading to students attending Zoom classes and completing digital work. This shift wasn’t completely reversed when the pandemic ended, and now students find themselves still stuck to their screens – worn out both in body and mind.
Sophomore Arnav Mishra takes Honors Computer Programming II, a class entirely focused on technology. He said using technology for a long time makes him feel demotivated and worsens his quality of work.
“Usually, the main effect on me of using technology for long [periods of] time at once is my eyes get tired and I feel sleepy,” Mishra said. “Then, when I have to do my work while also feeling drowsy, my performance isn’t as high as it could be, making me struggle with stuff like school work even more than I already am.”
Computer Applications for College, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Honors Microsoft Certification teacher Jill Puma said these symptoms occur often in her students. She said most of her assignments require the use of technology, and although it allows students to gain career skills for their futures, she said she definitely sees what using technology for long periods of time does to students.
“There is the obvious physical fatigue that we can see; things like your eyes being strained, or headaches from looking at the screen all the time,” she said. “But I think we also see it play out often in behavioral and emotional ways as well, that kind of stress with information overload, especially at school.”
Prevention and Wellness Director Kalia Marcelle said she feels like students shouldn’t have to use screens unless they have to be, and that the necessary dependence on technology varies based on the class and its purpose. Marcelle said as opportunities for social interaction and physical, paper work arise, it should be what comes first, with technology only being used in class when necessary.
“[Excessive technology] kind of alters your reality,” Marcelle said. “I mean, when you’re on your screen for seven bells a day, by 2:30 I see students not being able to pay attention. I see [students] being completely emotionally and physically exhausted.”
Mishra said there are pros and cons to having more technology in his classes. He said that classes with more digital work make him feel more lethargic, while classes with more work on paper make him bored.
“The amount of technology in my classes varies from class to class,” Mishra said. “But in my opinion, the perfect amount is when they meet in the middle with half and half paper work and online work.”
Puma said that technology is necessary in her class in order to prepare her students for their careers, most of which will involve being on a screen, or even multiple screens. She said she feels like students aren’t taught how to manage themselves on screens.
“I think, as teachers, we need to be conscious of how often we have our kids on screens,” Puma said. “Those are things that we need to think about, but also that students need to be taught, sometimes directly, how to manage [their screen time]. Wear blue light blockers if you need to manage your screen time. If you need a break, take a break. I think we directly need to teach kids how to manage that digital fatigue.”
Mishra said that he feels like he and other students have been tempted to use technology like artificial intelligence (AI) as a means to quickly complete school work and avoid spending more time doing assignments on screens. He said that although using AI gets students good grades at the moment, it harms them in the long run.
“The more common [AI] becomes the more our creativity lessens,” he said “It just builds a habit of relying on outside sources to do your work for you and blocks your mind [from] creating [authentic] ideas.”
As more and more students exhaust themselves with screens, they can be tempted to turn to resources like AI for help. Marcelle said AI isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially in daily life, but it depends on how it’s being used.
“AI increasing is a huge thing, both in a positive and negative way,” Marcelle said. “It really depends on your intent with it, how you’re going to use it. If you have no baseline to give it, then you’re just asking to do it for you. There’s no creative thinking behind it. AI [could instead] restructure what that [work] looks like, without taking your thoughts and your ideas away from what you already have.”
As the use of technology continues increasing, Mishra said students need to recognize how it will affect them. He said technology is an integral part of life, and being self-aware is key to avoiding digital fatigue and being successful in the future.
“Technology is a great tool that we should definitely be using in the years to come,” Mishra said. “But we should be aware of [and prepared for] the harm it can cause if we use it too much.”