Academy Reflects on Devices

Courtesy of Joonyoung Heo

By V MURDAYA, ADELLE PITTS, DIYA SANDEEP, JADE YOO, and FORREST ZENG

In 2023, United States Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued a health advisory about social media, calling on policymakers and parents alike to limit access to social media for children. This June, he compared device addiction to drug addiction, and advised for the addition of warning labels on social media apps like those on tobacco products today. Most vulnerable to the negative effects of social media are children and teens, especially high schoolers, such as those at Exeter. The truth of the matter is, device use has not only transformed how Academy students approach their classes, but has also altered the way students behave—and not always in a positive way. 

One metric of device use is that of average screen time. On handheld devices such as phones and tablets, students reported screen time averages ranging from three to seven hours a day, while screen time on laptops and computers were often reported to reach upwards of ten hours a day. These numbers indicate technologies’ clear dominance on student life at Exeter. 

A major trend among all respondents was spending most of their screen time on social media and games. “I’ve spent too much time on apps such as chess.com, Duolingo, and Youtube,” upper Joseph Kim said. “It takes up a lot of spare time throughout the day.” 

Indeed, most of this recreational use happens on handheld devices such as phones. Computers, on the contrary, are mostly used for schoolwork. Lower Maya Hinrichsen uses her computer and her phone for distinctly different purposes. “For schoolwork, I use my computer,” she said. “For Instagram and other messages, I use my phone.”

Lower Lena Kook mentioned similar habits. “During school days, I use both my computer and my phone. On the weekends, I just use my phone,” Kook said. 

Other students, such as prep Gavin Lyle, use computers in addition to handheld devices for social media and entertainment. “Both my computer and my phone are used to play games, complete school work, and chat with friends,” prep Gavin Lyle described. 

Even though students may habitually spend hours a day using their devices recreationally, they are acutely aware of social media’s distracting and often harmful nature. One of its most direct impacts is on sleep.  “If I didn’t spend as much time on my devices, I could probably sleep better,” said lower Linda Kozma-Vig. “It [social media] takes away from sleep time, and causes sleep deprivation.”

In parallel with the rise of short-form video content in the last decade, students also see devices as a constant source of distraction. Students have had mixed interpretations of social media’s impact on academics. Kim characterized recreational use as entirely unproductive. “These unproductive activities are unproductive for a reason,” Kim highlighted. “They don’t help us in our aspirations for our great life objectives.”

The luring comfort of social media is a source of late-night distraction for stressed out Exonians. “After a long day, I’ll sit in my room and scroll on my phone before practice, which is only a few minutes,” Hinrichsen said. “But when I’m doing homework at night, I feel like I want some relief, so I look at my phone for a few minutes, which turns into an hour. That’s made my work more stagnant.” 

For some students, however, social media isn’t a significant detriment to academic productivity. “Many times, I’ll scroll short-form videos on my phone instead of doing homework, and I become distracted,” said lower Angelina Wang. “However, I don’t think it’s had that big of an impact so far, because I’m still doing fine academically.”

Technology has also changed how students take notes and learn, mostly for the better. Hinrichsen highlighted one specific usage. “For in-class essays, being able to type an essay is much better than handwriting everything,” she described. “That’s great for academics. It’s just social media which is hard to handle.”

Online platforms also give educational content that can help students get ahead on different academic subjects that aren’t easily accessible. at Exeter. Lower Drona Gaddam said, “I use my devices also for extra education. For instance, while studying Economics, I used online platforms such as Youtube and Khan Academy to educate myself on the subjects. Now, it worked out well for me and I ended up in the Advanced Economics group.”

Lower Julia Zhou characterized devices as essential for academics at Exeter. “It’s kind of incomprehensible to not use your laptop for note-taking or writing papers,” she said.

Devices can also be academically beneficial for curious students seeking to learn outside of class. Kim described how he uses the plethora of educational resources on the internet to expand his knowledge. “I’ve replaced short-form content with educational content, then expanded to long form documentaries of that sort,” he said. “And instead of playing video games, I try to play games with a bit of educational value, such as chess or Duolingo.”

Social media, additionally, also helps to alleviate the blinding effects of the so-called “Exeter Bubble.” Students frequently receive information about music, politics, and other trends in the outside world from social media.

Gaddam added, “There are joke accounts such as Exeter Compliments, Justice for CVP, and others that are specific to Exeter that students use to give updates and funny comments on Exeter life.” The Exeter Instagram meme accounts and Exeter Compliments boast a huge following, and are known for being a big source of entertainment for students on campus. 

“Social media is a huge part of being updated and being on trend,” Zhou said. “It’s also a way to stay educated politically about the world.”

Beyond being informed on worldly trends, however, students feel negatively impacted by social media on a mental and emotional level. Students characterize social media overuse not dissimilarly to an addiction. Most regret being exposed to social media at young ages.  “After scrolling for a long time, I feel very drained,” Hinrichsen described. She related her experience with Reels, Instagram’s short form content platform. “I’ll be watching reel after reel, and I feel good at the moment. It becomes hard to get out of that cycle, and I end up feeling shame and guilt afterwards.” 

A common effect of social media overuse is its ability to degrade users’ self-confidence by exposing them to idealistic images of other peoples’ lives. “I feel like comparing myself to others is definitely detrimental to my mental health,” Kozma-Vig admitted.

Zhou related a similar story. “Especially academically, being present online and seeing successful people on the screen can make you feel like you’re falling behind,” she said. “In terms of building my college apps, that’s the greatest part where self-comparison really comes in.”

Hyper-exposure to short form video content also has the potential to cause sluggishness and boredom. Wang related, “Social media has made me a lot more bored. It kind of fried my brain in that way.”

Many Academy students were first exposed to social media at a very young age. Having grown up in an environment inundated with social media, Kook struck a regretful tone about her usage of social media now. “My mom first allowed me to get social media in fifth grade,” Kook said. “Early exposure to social media took the joy out of realizing the beauty of nature. I’m always filled with dopamine from the screen, and I don’t end up appreciating my real life surroundings.”

Kim identified social media as a systemic problem within the world at broad. “Social media addiction is a big problem for America and for Western society as a whole,” he described. “Because of the ultra-capitalism in our nation and the lack of government intervention, we don’t have enough measures to stop big tech corporations from stealing our attention and making money.”

Though device use is a massive problem for Exonians seeking to combine knowledge and character, students actually feel quite overwhelmingly that device use is less of a problem at Exeter than at other high schools across the nation. Kozma-Vig attributed this to the Academy’s rigor.

“I feel like most Exonians’ screen times are actually lower than the average person’s,” she said. “We’re so much busier throughout the day than an average high school student, so we generally have less time to spend on our phones.”

Kook agreed, relating how her device use changed after coming to Exeter. “I haven’t been using my phone as much just because there has been more academic homework load,” she said.

“We’re always on the academic grind,” agreed Zhou. 

“At this school, we complain when we have spent two hours on unproductive activities,” Joseph added. “However, I know people who have spent seven hours on unproductive activities. And I feel like we’re quite lucky.”

Hinrichsen disagreed, pointing to the higher levels of stress at the Academy as a possible predictor for a comparatively greater screen time. “Since people feel more burnt out and feel the need to relieve themselves, they usually end up being on their screens,” she said. “That might contribute to why more people are on screens.”

The conclusion is clear, however. As resilient and busy as Exonians might be, at the end of the day, we are still high schoolers, susceptible to the same dangerous effects of device overuse that high schoolers all across the nation are.