By HANNAH BENSON/Talon Contributor
College students are heavily influenced by social media and are impacted by its prevalence.
Tasks such as sitting down to do homework, showing up to class or trying to go to sleep can be difficult due to the amount of time they spend on social media. Students’ first instinct, whenever they hear their phones go off, is to immediately drop what they are doing and check the notification. This causes students to be easily distracted, less productive and stressed out due to constantly shifting their focus to their phones rather than schoolwork.
“I put aside my schoolwork to make sure that I get my Delight post up on time, and I have noticed that social media does get in the way of me doing homework because it is a distraction,” said Julia Miller, a UT Tyler student and the Delight social media coordinator.
Many students prioritize managing social media accounts and scrolling through a friend’s post over assignments, quizzes, and studying for major exams. This leads to grades dropping, turning in assignments late, lower work ethic and less motivation to work hard to get an A.
Many students have short attention spans while sitting in class and are addicted to checking their phones. This can cause problems between the teacher and students as they are trying to teach, Teachers must find new ways to hold students’ attention.
“I have noticed a significant difference in students’ grades over the last four to five years due to social media,” said Susan McElroy, a teacher at Tyler Legacy High School and a mentor to multiple college students. “The biggest thing that I see is students’ inability to put their phones down during school.”
Multiple solutions are available for students to use to shift their focus from social media to schoolwork.
They can set time limits on their apps and even on their phones, which will limit the amount of time they can spend on a certain app each day.
They could also set their phone to Do Not Disturb and place it across the room whenever they are working on schoolwork. This can help eliminate the sounds and vibrations they receive when they get notifications and will help students not get distracted.
Another helpful tool is to create a set schedule for when to use social media. On the schedule, students can set aside a certain number of hours each day to spend time on their social media accounts, but it also allows them to set aside plenty of time for their classes, homework, studying and extracurricular activities.
These solutions will allow students to increase their academic productivity, raise their grades and focus on their life outside of an electronic device.
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