Imagine sitting in class trying to learn something new, when out of nowhere there is a noise in the hall. Most people would immediately look to see what made the noise, but some decide to focus back on the lesson, only to see they missed an entire part. It’s over, they have no clue what’s going on, and it’s all thanks to one noise, one little distraction ruined the entire lesson for them.

There are numerous amounts of distractions that grab somebody’s attention throughout the day, a major one being the device that fits in a pocket, a cell phone. People can try all they want to resist the urge to look at that notification that buzzed their phone, but chances are they are going to look at it. Take this article for example. It took a lot longer to write than it should have, and that’s because I spent most of the time looking at my phone, playing Wordscapes or Candy Crush.

It’s hard to stay focused in school, sitting in class for about seven hours gets hard. That is one reason why someone will look away from the whiteboard in order to take a little mind break, and look who texted them, or play a game on their phone, which obviously could wait till the lesson is over.
As the school year goes on, kids tend to become more and more distracted, beginning to get tired of constantly learning about a calculus equation that most will probably never need again after graduating, or learning about how a plant’s genes are passed down. Not paying attention is a big problem for students due to lessons progressively getting harder as the year goes on.

While distractions can have major impacts on a student’s learning, there are ways they can prevent themselves from getting distracted. An obvious way is to turn off the phone and put it away. Another thing I feel helps me focus is to chew gum. I’m not sure why it helps, but it does. It could be because I have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), and am constantly fidgeting. Chewing gum helps me fidget less and lets me focus more on my task at hand. I chatted with librarian Ms. Karol about how she likes to cope with being distracted. “If I’m getting distracted I try to remove myself for the situation. If there are people distracting me I will leave the room and find somewhere quiet to work. I also use headphones to help me focus, listening to music I enjoy helps me get in the zone and not get as distracted.”

Senior Anna Behringer says that she has a few ways to prevent herself from getting distracted. “When I have something important to work on, I will usually put my phone on do not disturb, or I’ll put in headphones and listen to some music.” Music is a common way to shut out other people when focus is necessary in a task. Putting in headphones and bumping a favorite song helps block out the noise that others are making.

Being distracted in school is a major reason why kids tend to fall off as the school year progresses, but students, as well as teachers, all cope with distractions in different ways. Whether it’s turning the phone off, or plugging in the headphones to listen to some music, finding new ways to stop from getting distracted is important in school. Nobody wants to be the one person who falls so far behind, all because they decided to spend the class texting people, or looking out the window.