Brain rot memes on the phones of SHS students. (holding space meme – left; skibidi toilet – top middle; Grinch knee surgery – right)

Whether you’re a student at SHS walking the hallways or a parent conversing with your teenager, you’ve probably heard brain rot vocabulary without even knowing it.

Popular terms at the moment include: “lore,” “queens never cry,” “that feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow,” “mogging” and many more.

Most people would read those phrases and be left totally confused on their significance, but not the users of social media containing “brain rot.”

In an article by The New York Times, they quote the Oxford dictionary to describe brain rot as the “‘supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state,’ particularly stemming from overconsumption of trivial online content.” From this content, vocabulary like the ones stated previously are produced.

Brain rot is obviously a figurative term, but the massive amounts of unimportant media we are consuming daily on Tiktok, Instagram Reels or even Youtube Shorts, can lead us to a place of actually limiting our intellectual growth.

With this contemporary, non-understandable vocabulary, comes the fear that those consuming it will begin using it on a regular basis. I asked the students of SHS about brain rot and how it affects them, and we can already see this vocabulary becoming normalized.

“I use phrases like ‘chopped’ and ‘that pretty much sums me up as a person’ almost daily, and then sometimes I pepper in a little bit of ‘hello dubai,’” junior Anya Evdokimenko said.

Those who aren’t active on Tiktok would probably not be aware of any of those terms as they’re derived from trends on the app. Tik Tok isn’t the only originator of brain rot, it’s also occasionally derived from funny videos all across the internet.

Sophomore Leo Visani said that he uses phrases from viral videos on the daily. For example, a video of a mother being recorded by her daughter while Snapchat Bitmoji pops up behind her became very popular, and people began to mimic her daughter’s reaction.

“I use ‘mama a girl behind you’ and ‘well, yes!’ like everyday,” Visani said.

The effects of the internet on young people and society as a whole has become apparent throughout the past few decades. Chatter and debates on the topic of social media and its dangers have almost become repetitive, as the amount of time we spend on our phones just continues to increase.

With all her extracurricular activities, junior Giovanna De Oliveira usually doesn’t have much time to be on her phone. But like most of Gen Z, she finds the time.

“I spend a lot of time on my phone when I know I shouldn’t– probably six to eight hours a day when I’m not at school,” De Oliveira said.

But the particular focus of the subject of brain rot in school is its influence on a student’s focus. During school hours with our phones away, it might not necessarily affect one’s learning, but it may have an impact on one’s ability to focus at home.

“In class it doesn’t really affect my vocabulary unless I’m talking to my friends, but at home it can occasionally get in the way of my homework,” junior Avi LaRocco said.

A survey conducted by NIH (National Library of Medicine) concluded that there are two main reasons why we feel so drawn to being on our phones and using social media: social connection and task-related distraction. If a student is in the mood to socialize with peers after a long school day and also has unwanted homework to get done, they’re going to be even more drawn to their phone.

In relation to how social media and brain rot can affect homework or completing tasks, it can also affect the amount of time we can focus during class. The decrease in Gen Z’s attention span (the amount of time we can stay focused on one thing) goes even beyond just having our phones next to us.

“I would like to say I have a pretty good attention span if I’m motivated,” Evdokimenko said. “But honestly, I do tend to get distracted and procrastinate while scrolling through Tiktok.”

The distraction of social media and having all the information you could possibly need literally at your fingertips at any time of the day, can lead to ‘doom scrolling’. Most of the time, this type of scrolling through social media doesn’t include significant information, which might even be why it is so disrupting or ‘dooming’.

Some people may enjoy brain rot content and find it entertaining, others may find it annoying and feel as though it is corrupting the youth. Though we’re all pretty much aware of how useless and negative spending so much time on the internet can be, brain rot and especially social media will continue to influence and sculpt our fast changing society.

“Whenever I’m bored or tired, I scroll for hours,” Visani said. “It’s really bad.”