From my students, a solution by design

I used to talk about media literacy as if it were the answer to an information system poisoned by disinformation and misinformation. But a class discussion with my students a few weeks ago changed my view. It gave me more nuance and a better sense of the problem. It reminded me that we need to listen to the young. They are the ones living most deeply in this information environment, and it is their future that stands to be shaped by it.

I asked my students what they would do differently, now that they had been made more aware of the dangers of social media and disinformation. I expected the usual answers. I thought they would speak of media literacy, self-awareness, and personal discipline. Many did.

But what struck me most in my students’ answers was their view that the pull of social media is not just personal. They pointed to something larger. What is concerning in this information environment is not just that fake news and disinformation spread fast. It is also that many of us have become glued to our phones --always reaching for the next hit of distraction or stimulation-- because our built environment has been poorly designed.

That insight came, at least in part, from my own admission in class. I told them that even someone like me, who teaches media literacy and is fully aware of both the uses and dangers of social media, still struggles to avoid its traps. I have told myself many times that too much time is lost to mindless scrolling, to that dull spiral of brain-rot and wasted hours. Yet from time to time, I still fall into it.

My students suggest that the answer cannot rest on individual awareness alone. Knowing the danger does not always give a person the strength to resist it. The problem is social, so the response may also have to be social. We must build communities that help us break free together.

One student pointed out that our built environment makes digital addiction easier and real-life connection harder. For example, she said, we do not have enough parks or public spaces where people can simply be with one another. Our commutes are long, tiring, and numbing because of traffic. Our roads and sidewalks are badly designed and often hostile to pedestrians. Even stepping outside can feel joyless.

As a result, people take refuge in the cheap digital entertainment, distraction, and small doses of pleasure offered by the most convenient tool in the palm of their hand: the smartphone. When there is no grass to touch, no trees to climb, no waterways to dip into, and no parks where people can gather and soak in nature, the digital world becomes a welcome escape.

If we want less compulsive screen use, we must create more places and situations that reward being present in the physical world. We need more well-designed spaces for slow, quiet hobbies. For my students like Marc Anthony and Athea, who want to return to reading, writing, and photography, we should build small reading gardens, shaded benches, outdoor study corners, pocket libraries, and quiet nooks. Old buildings can be redesigned as public libraries, with textured walls and surrounded by trees and gardens. There should be more visible and attractive places for books and storytelling.

Kaizer and Gian point to the loss of real conversation. So schools and communities need more communal tables, shaded courtyards, lunch spaces that encourage groups to gather, and waiting areas designed for talking rather than merely passing through. Better sidewalks matter. Shade matters. Trees matter. Good lighting matters. An urban space that is hot, noisy, dangerous, and ugly drives people back to their phones.

Frances says that people need real things to look forward to. This means public spaces where they can hang out without spending money. These include parks, school lawns, open courts, mini amphitheaters, board game corners, weekend art spaces, student commons, and small performance areas. Most people cannot afford a mountain retreat or beach break.  If every wholesome form of leisure requires money, transport, or planning, then the smartphone will remain the cheapest and easiest escape.

People are biological beings. We were not made to live immersed in a digital matrix. We need to bring back the kinds of places that make human life feel possible again.