Sydney Peterson

Student gets distracted by her phone while doing homework.

If you were to ask a student where they keep their phones while they study, you would probably get a variety of replies; the most common one would be “Oh, my phone is next to me when I study.” That’s where the root of the problem lies. It starts with the phone on the table next to you, then it’s your phone dinging with a notification, which makes you pick it up, and then ends with you spending time on your phone and completely forgetting about your schoolwork.“ I go on my phone whenever I get a notification, like once every ten minutes. When I go on it, it’s not for a long time, just like for 30 seconds to check notifications,” sophomore Halle Johnston said.

Bad study habits like keeping your phone next to you while you study or going on your phone for an unrestricted amount of time while you study can lead to a number of things. Students’ attention span in Gen Z has reached an all-time low. Doing homework for forty-five minutes straight feels like an impossible task, and reaching for your phone whenever you’re stressed or need a break has become a reflex. Most students might only open their phone to see the notifications they have and end up scrolling on their phone for way longer than they intended. “Whenever I open [my phone], I find myself losing track of time because I just keep scrolling, and I just get so distracted,” junior Lauren Patterson said.

However, it isn’t just phones that might impact a student’s success. AI has been on the rise, giving a fast and quick solution to homework that might seem tedious or a waste of time. Most students, when using AI, think to themselves that this is the easier solution; however, when their computer or phone is away from them and they’re taking a test, they blank. When students use AI on assignments, they miss out on important learning that they will most likely need for the future. Although AI can be a helpful tool to use when learning something new or helping to refine an essay, it becomes harmful to students’ learning when it is strictly used to copy answers down. “If I’m confused about something, I go to Google, and if it doesn’t give me an immediate answer, I immediately go to ChatGPT,” Johnston said.

Commonly, today, students don’t care about learning. The main goal is completing the assignment (with any means necessary), getting an A on the test, and then forgetting all about the material immediately after. Resources like AI or other ‘homework help’ continue to help and exploit students like this, to the point where it becomes impossible for a student to complete any amount of work without the help of AI or even the internet.