I have to be honest. My Chromebook has been a real challenge for me. 

Now, I know what you’re all thinking. “Chromebooks are what allowed us to have school last year. They’re the future of modern education. Stop acting like a boomer.” Yes, I understand that. I’m not about to sit here and suggest that Chromebooks haven’t had a positive impact on our education, especially during the pandemic. However, I think that we also have to acknowledge the fact that they have a significant drawback: They are a massive distraction.

We’ve all seen it. If you sit in the back of the class, you can view what other students are doing on their Chromebooks. Most of the time, it’s nothing remotely school-related. To be honest, I don’t blame them; when Snake, Wordle, Chess, YouTube, and 2048—just to name a few—are a few clicks away, it’s incredibly difficult to resist the temptation. Many of us acquired bad, distracting habits during virtual school last year, and unfortunately, Chromebooks have allowed those patterns to continue. When used responsibly, the distraction of Chromebooks in class can occasionally be beneficial. If you’re sitting in an easy class and know that your time would be better spent working on other schoolwork rather than paying attention, then that’s a respectable choice. The problem is that those instances are few and far between. More often than not, students (myself included) find themselves zoned out on their computers rather than paying attention. 

I can’t speak for everyone else, but for me, the distractions are just as potent at home as they are in school. I remember how productive I was in elementary school, flying through all my homework assignments because I didn’t have a computer or phone to distract me (I also had much less homework to begin with, but nonetheless I was still more efficient). Then, in junior high, I got a phone, which definitely decreased my productivity. Once I actually sat down and started the homework, I was fine, but tearing myself away from my phone and getting there was the problem. Now, Chromebooks have made my dilemma even worse. Even when I’m able to claw myself out of the YouTube rabbit hole and put my phone away, I now have new distractions to contend with. Since most of the work requires using Chromebooks, there’s always an opportunity for me to hit “new tab” and start doing something else. On some days, I’ll check Skyward, then check my email, then take a look at The Abingtonian, and suddenly realize that an hour has passed. For people like me who can be somewhat scatterbrained, all of the tabs and options on the Chromebooks are a nasty combo. Right now, as I am writing this article, I am supposed to be doing my chemistry homework, but instead I decided to hit “ctrl T” and here I am. 

Technology is a tool. It is not inherently good or bad. However, as the school year has progressed, I have found myself becoming more susceptible to the “bad” than the “good”. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I really do miss the days when we didn’t have Chromebooks.