Social media usage increased every year, especially among students at Southeast Middle School. But how frequently do SEMS students use social media, particularly for “Brain Rot” videos?

A recent survey showed shocking results about students’ social usage.

Sixth grade students averaged less screen time than eighth-grade students, with sixth graders at about 1.2 hours on screens, while eighth graders averaged around 5 hours.

Ariel Ruvalcaba, an eighth grader, reported that her daily screen time increased significantly after getting a phone, averaging 8-10 hours per day. 

In contrast, Sammatha Zarazuia, a sixth grader, shared that she joined social media mainly to connect with her friends and spent about 3 hours on her devices daily.

Interestingly, nearly all students who reported using social media indicated encouragement from friends to create accounts.

Additionally, the SEMS Eagle News team conducted a series of “Brain Rot” questions to gather further data.

The “Brain Rot” quiz was just 15 short questions about tons of memes and short, easy-to-pick-up-on jokes by mainly outta pure fun, mostly populated on social media like TikTok and Instagram.

Students answering all questions correctly (15 out of 15) had an average screen time of 4.33 hours, while those getting only one question right had an average of just 2.83 hours of daily screen time.

These Surrey replies suggest that the more common students are on social media, the more “brain-rotted” they are.

On the brain rot quiz, 8th graders got the highest score, then 7th, and finally 6th at last.

Many sixth graders noted not having a phone yet, which affected their performance on the quiz, resulting in lower scores.

Brain rot is enjoyed by a younger audience because brain rot is very unserious, helping the younger audience,s especially teens and children, unwind and relax.