Our Attention Span is Worse Than a Goldfish

By: Jon Cecere

Our is 8.25 seconds long. A goldfish's attention span is 9 seconds long. That means our attention span is worse than a goldfish. Our attention span is an important aspect of life. It affects how well we do things. If our attention span is short then we will have more trouble focusing on important tasks like school work or just work in general. Our attention span is affected by sleep, interest, and maybe technology. In this article, we will discover if technology affects attention span. 

Students are having their attention spans lowered by many things. Right now all over the world technology has affected all of our lives.  Fast-paced social media has limited attention span to very low numbers. John Sopcik from Weston Middle School states¨

This shows that endlessly scrolling affects our attention span because we expect the most fun entertaining content and when it isn't people just stop listening. Sebastian Chadbourne from the same school states¨I think it's ok because it's more controlled¨ 

Our attention span is getting lower and lower. But video games aren't to blame. Raymond Liu, another student at the school states when asked if video games affect attention spans.”They aren't doing anything to our attention span.¨ This means that video games are much better for your attention span than mindlessly scrolling on social media. 

Attention span depends on what you are doing. Imagine you're eating ice cream while watching TV. Your attention span is going to be significantly longer than if you're working. Gabriel Steele states¨I think it depends on what you are doing¨

The attention span is very complex. There are so many factors that can affect your attention span. There is how much you sleep, how much technology you use, and what you are doing.

Oscar Butler-Perez says how he often gets distracted. He gets distracted by stuff on the walls. He says how he gets distracted by birds on the wall while he is trying to work. This symbolizes how easily we get distracted by a bad attention span. 

In conclusion, technology isn't bad for your attention if you use it right. Social media is significantly worse for you than video games are. Make sure you aren't using technology to much because that could really affect your attention span but if you use a little bit it is fine.