Most secondary students worry about smartphone use while 20% have used AI for schoolwork

Some 54% said that short from video and picture apps like TikTok and Instagram have seriously impacted their ability to concentrate.

Just over one in five secondary school students have used the artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT for school-related tasks such as writing essays, a new study has found. 

The research also found that 83% of secondary students worry they use their smartphones too much and that is ruining their ability to focus and study.

More than one third of students (38%) say they use their phones for more than four hours per day, and 16% say they use them for more than six hours per day. 

As for what applications students are likely to be using, Snapchat and Instagram proved to be the most popular with 87% of the more than 1,000 students surveyed saying they use them regularly.

Some 54% of respondents said that video-sharing apps such as TikTok and Instagram have seriously impacted their ability to concentrate.

The research was carried out by study website Studyclix, which was founded by former secondary school teacher Luke Saundersthink, who said the results are "a really good reflection of the reality out there".

He said it was "staggering" that some students spend more than six hours a day on their phones, adding that distraction-blocker apps — which can block notifications or access to an app for a certain time period — could help them.

"Rather than taking a hard line no-phone approach, I would suggest parents try make their child become self-aware of their phone use and try some distraction-blocker apps such as Forest App to manage their phone use in a healthier way."

Mr Saunders said the survey shows that students are aware that they use their phone too much, but "they need support in managing distractions”. 

On the topic of ChatGPT, Mr Saunders said the extent of its use among secondary students was "sure to worry educators". 

"It seems that they are using it for writing essays in English, History and European languages as well as writing code for their Computer Science class," he said.

"In an odd way, I think the inevitable rise of ChatGPT, and other AI tools will mean that our state exams will remain strictly hand-written exams long into the future.” 

The survey also asked students about their main life and educational concerns, and their future prospects.

Unsurprisingly, exam-related stress was cited as the primary worry of nearly three-quarters (74%) of students, while 64% expressed concerns about the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. 

Just under half of those surveyed (47%) of the students surveyed said they had a part-time job to generate extra income, and 28% said they were likely to leave Ireland in the future.