According to the American Psychological Association, about 37% of teens spend at least 5 hours of their day on social media.
Social media shapes the world as we know it, and it has an effect on us, through anything from clothing trends, taste in music, personal choices, and significantly, academic performance.
Even with New Providence High School’s new policy which forbids the use of phones during school hours, students still find themselves using social media for numerous hours after school.
For many years now, academic performance in the United States has declined, partly due to the use of social media and the impact it has on many students. Students would rather spend hours doomscrolling Tiktok than studying for an extremely important test, which could be understandable, but also has a big negative effect.
At NPHS, freshman Julian Deluca, freshman Camryn Olszowy and sophomore Anoushka Boddun have felt the effects of social media, but try to keep a balance between the use of social media and their academic performance.
All three students regularly check social media after school and are active on social media in some shape or form.
Deluca is one of many students who balances social media with academics. On top of that, he participates in football, lacrosse and other activities.
He tries to avoid social media use when doing homework, but the amount of distractions from social media is limitless.
“My phone will go off and then I will take a minute break and just go on YouTube,” he said.
This is a common occurrence for students as one notification can lead to an hour of social media use for some people.
But, social media use doesn’t only come with negatives. Deluca believes that social media can help with academic performance when people don’t understand a topic.
Another student who balances social media use with academic success is freshman Camryn Olszowy. She also participates in soccer, basketball and lacrosse.
She is definitely not alone in struggling to with the balance: “I think sometimes I’ve gotten late grades because I spend most of my time on my phone instead of remembering to do my homework.”
To try to limit that from happening, Olszowy makes sure to stay organized, and check due dates before using social media.
Like Deluca, Olszowy also believes that social media has numerous distractions that could grab your attention. Specifically, teens are way more likely to continue social media use when they see something interesting. This will cause them to want to learn more about it which ultimately leads to a large amount of social media time.
Olszowy also believes social media has a beneficial aspect, specifically the STEM feature on TikTok. Tiktok launched a STEM section in March 2023. The section exclusively features videos related to STEM which can assist students grasp new concepts.
Lastly, another student who balances social media use with academic success is sophomore Anoushka Boddun. Boddun balances marching band, theater, and volleyball with academics.
In order to avoid bad academic performance due to social media, Boddun, like others, has to stay on task when doing school work: “I try to prioritize my academics before going on social media or anything like that.”
Commonly, students find even a quick check of social media to be distracting and can make them forget the tasks they have to do.
“I think sometimes I spend too much time on it, so I ignore whatever I have to do and kind of just stay on social media,” Boddun said.
This will negatively affect a student’s academic performance because they will have less time to complete homework or study, leading to rushing to complete it, which lessens their understanding.
The experiences of NPHS students like these reveals that the relationship between social media and academics is complex, and extends beyond simple distraction. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the school cell phone policy ends when the bell rings, and from that point, the responsibility shifts to the student.