[Youth Immersed in SNS]③"Please Play It at Double Speed": Teachers Struggle with Short-Form Addiction

43.1% of Teachers Report Infringement of Authority Due to Mobile Phones
Sudden Outbursts of "Tralalaeo Tralalala" During Class
"Need to Strengthen Education on Proper SNS Use"

Editor's NoteWe now live in an era where 9 out of 10 high school students use social networking services (SNS). However, society's response to youth SNS usage remains insufficient. While parents worry that SNS could lead to school violence and crime, children say that, within their busy daily lives, relationships with peers cannot even exist without SNS. The Asia Business Daily examines this gap and explores solutions our society must consider.

"Teacher, can't you make the video play at double speed?"

This is one of the most common requests heard by Kim, a 30-year-old female teacher with six years of experience, during her classes these days. When she plays a video during class, third-grade elementary students squirm and struggle to focus. The students ask her to fast-forward the video or skip ahead by 10 seconds. Kim says she is exhausted from trying to keep the students focused as she moves around the classroom. "Even though playing videos during class is meant to capture their interest, they still can't concentrate," she said, adding, "They find it difficult to focus on text or long videos."

There are growing complaints from the education field about the challenges caused by students developing "popcorn brain"-a state where they only respond to immediate and intense stimuli. Students addicted to "short-form" content provided by social networking services are unable to focus during class or even disrupt lessons. The scope of school violence has also expanded to SNS, but teachers say they have no effective means to intervene.

According to a "Teacher Perception Survey" conducted by the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations with 5,591 teachers, 43.1% of respondents in 2023 said they had experienced class disruptions or infringements on their authority due to students' mobile phone use. Additionally, 34.1% reported experiencing resistance, arguments, or verbal abuse from students while trying to guide behavior or confiscate phones during educational activities. Alarmingly, 6.2% of teachers said they had been injured or assaulted while trying to stop students from using their phones.

Park, a 32-year-old male elementary school teacher, lamented that students start getting hooked on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts as early as third grade. He said it is common for students to sneak into the bathroom to chat on SNS or watch short-form content, only to get caught by teachers. "Even though chatting via SNS is banned because of concerns about school violence, students still get scolded for insulting other friends through SNS," Park said. "They also disrupt class by randomly repeating trendy phrases like 'Tralalaeo Tralalala' that they picked up from short-form content, without any context."

Spread of SNS Leads to New Forms of School Violence..."Teachers Avoid Confrontation for Fear of Parental Complaints"

Short-form content offered by SNS platforms is penetrating classrooms across all grades. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's "2024 Youth Media Use and Harmful Environment Survey," as of 2024, 88.9% of elementary, 92.7% of middle, and 96.7% of high school students reported having encountered short-form content.

The problem is that even when students behave inappropriately on SNS, teachers lack the authority to address it directly. For example, in cases of school violence via SNS, schools and teachers can only take action after a formal report is filed. Park, a 33-year-old female middle school teacher, explained, "Because teachers cannot monitor every student's SNS account, the victim must file a report before the school can respond. New forms of school violence have emerged due to the spread of SNS, but there is no effective way to address them." Kim also added, "When it comes to SNS, we have no choice but to leave it up to the students' self-regulation. Teachers also tend to avoid potential conflicts with parents by steering clear of such issues in advance."

Experts advise that society must foster an environment where education on SNS use for youth is strengthened. Yang Jungho, a professor of education at Sungkyunkwan University, said, "Although the education authorities investigate and announce results on cyberbullying, they do not fully grasp the details of school violence that actually occurs on SNS. We need to educate students more specifically on what constitutes school violence via SNS and how to use SNS properly."