“Oops, I Scrolled Again”: Helping Kids Reclaim Their Focus in a Hyper-Distracted World

Why attention is the new superpower — and how to teach it without becoming a monk.

By Zübeyde Arslan

The average child today has the attention span of a goldfish.
(And that goldfish? He’s winning.)

Between TikToks, YouTube shorts, and games that reward every 3 seconds with virtual glitter explosions, it’s no surprise our students can’t sit still for more than two minutes — unless they’re watching slime videos.

So the real question is:
How do we help kids focus when the whole world is designed to distract them?

1. Normalize Boredom

Repeat after me:
Boredom is not the enemy.
It’s the beginning of imagination.

Create tech-free windows in the classroom (and at home) where doing nothing is actually encouraged.
Out of that silence, daydreams are born.
And sometimes, inventions too.

2. Teach “Mind-Muscle” Awareness