Coláiste Chiaráin team highlights need to reduce phone usage

By Rebekah O'Reilly

Coláiste Chiaráin's Young Social Innovators are ambitiously aiming for a national campaign with their project titled 'Disconnect & Reconnect' which focuses on cutting down phone screen time.

The group of 22 transition year students are taking part in the Young Social Innovators programme, which challenges students to co-create and implement solutions to real-world social issues.

"We were brainstorming ideas in class and finding it hard to settle on one. We came up with a few ideas at first, like making eco-friendly candles and other things like that, but they didn’t really stick," said student Anthony Gallagher.

"Eventually, we talked about disconnecting and reconnecting, and phone usage. As a class, we realised that phone addiction is a big problem in society today, so we decided to go forward with that idea."

Their project, 'Disconnect & Reconnect', was inspired by their own struggles to limit their screen time, and the impacts they noticed on their focus and their creativity.

The students sent out a survey to every student and staff member, receiving a total of 240 responses from students and a further 60 responses from staff.

In the responses, issues such as self image, impacts on mental health like social anxiety, and physical problems such as back pain were brought to the forefront.

"We think social media is causing a lot of problems for our generation, especially with mental health. It affects how young people see themselves, and being on your phone too much can also cause physical problems like headaches, eye strain, and trouble sleeping," said Liam Nugent.

"Less than 50% of students who took part in our survey said they get the recommended eight hours of sleep, and we think phone use is a big reason for that. People talked about headaches, eye strain, back pain, and even hand pain. Our research also showed that more young people are needing glasses, which studies link to increased screen use."

Student Isabel Tynan Daly added that screen time varied hugely between senior cycle students and junior cycle students, with their findings revealing that a total of 20 years of your life could be taken up by scrolling on your phone.

"We found that some students spend more than eight hours a day on their phones, and many are on their phones past midnight. First-year students tended to spend around two to three hours a day, but usage increased significantly in older year groups, sometimes up to eight or more hours. One student even reported 14 hours of screen time in a day, which is shocking when you think about how little time that leaves for anything else."

Anthony Whyte said a lot of students would have anxiety around not having access to their phone, in a phenomenon called 'nomophobia', the fear of being without your phone.

"A lot of students said they’re afraid to be away from their phones because they feel like they’re missing out. There’s also anxiety about how people see you online, which adds pressure."

The students' survey found that the app taking up the most time on students phones was TikTok, whereas the most used apps for staff were Facebook and WhatsApp.

The Young Social Innovators noted that newly coined terms such as 'brain rot' and 'doom-scrolling' perfectly captured their lived experiences of social media and mobile phone usage.

"Doom-scrolling is when you go on an app like TikTok or Instagram for five or ten minutes, and suddenly an hour or two has passed without you realising. You just keep scrolling," Isabel Tynan Daly explained.

"Brain-rot, I suppose it is accurate. If someone said either of those things to you 6 months ago you wouldn't know what they were talking about," said Anthony Gallagher.

"A lot of people said they struggle to concentrate in class, and some feel less creative. Attention spans are getting shorter, and even small distractions can throw you off for the rest of the lesson."

Mr Joseph Costigan, teacher of the Young Social Innovators module, said that if there was an illness which cut your life span by 20 years, scientists would be looking for a solution, and the Coláiste Chiaráin students are aiming to start that conversation.

Students have been setting weekly 'Disconnect & Reconnect' goals, encouraging other students in the school to reconnect with nature, with books, and with their families.

"Over the Christmas break, we're hoping to encourage students to disconnect from their phones and enjoy time together with their families," said Liam Nugent.

"We'll make a post on our social media page to say something like 'we're signing off for Christmas, and you should too.'"

While the students are starting small with their weekly in-house challenges, they hope to bring their 'Disconnect & Reconnect' campaign nationwide in the coming months.

"Mobile phone addiction is something we are all dealing with, and it's something we think is really important," said Mr Costigan.

"We're starting to get the word out, and it might be ambitious, but we'd like to take it nationwide!"