As we see more students on their phones, keeping up with trends by watching short-form videos, we see social media playing a huge role in creating new phrases that are popular, like “6 7” or “Italian Brainrots” that were extremely popular during mid and late 2025. Presumably, there were teenagers making these phrases so well known. Teenagers are having problems separating themselves from social media. Researchers have seen many kids struggle with this problem of addiction to microdosed dopamine from short-form media. You can see students around campus participating in popular trends and being on their phones more and more. I asked two students their perspective on social media and students’ trouble with phone addiction.
Leyla Vega, a Sophomore in SDHS, shared her thoughts on how social media likes to distract people with trends. She mentions how brainrot is a “misinformation” with “AI” being involved due to “making fake characters” that makes it addictive for others, and how the brain releases “dopamine” and “adrenaline.” Now her friends use “Brainrot slang,” and they’ve started to forget their vocabulary. Leyla thinks that all young people should have some entertainment through these popular trends, but also ultimately have time for themselves.
I also interviewed another student, who would like to stay anonymous, but who’s also a sophomore at SDHS. They spoke about how this generational slang is a problem on a global scale. They mentioned how every year there are new “trends” for practically anything and how it reaches failure compared to “actual grammar”. They also mentioned that AI has been an “active tool” to “distract students” from forming a habit of being on social media and other apps. They suggest that students work on setting aside more time to “work on themselves” and find something that they would “enjoy in their free time.”
As we see this social media addiction due to trends like Brainrot, issues will continue to arise in youth, whether that be in school, at home, or in relationships.
