NJ ranked high for what experts call ‘brain rot’

Some of us remember a time when there was one computer in the house. You would wait your turn to use it. I used to tell my kids to get off the computer. They’d go up to their rooms, and then that was the end of that. Ahhh, the family computer. How quaint.

Now it’s completely different.

The screen is always there. In their hand, next to the bed, at the kitchen table, in the car, and somehow still lighting up at night when they’re supposed to be sleeping.

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And if you’ve spent any time around teenagers lately, you probably don’t need a study to tell you something feels different. And here in New Jersey, the problem is bigger than it is in a lot of other places.

According to new research from JuicePlus+, New Jersey scored 70.65 out of 100 for what researchers are calling “brain rot,” which is basically a way of measuring how much digital overload people may be dealing with. The national average was 59, which means New Jersey came in noticeably higher than most states.

Researchers looked at things like screen time, gaming habits, internet access, reading ability, physical activity, and online behavior to figure out where people may be the most overstimulated by technology.

And New Jersey ranked high.

That probably doesn’t surprise a lot of people.

We live fast here. Kids are connected to everything all the time. Phones, social media, YouTube, gaming, group chats, videos playing in the background… it never really shuts off.

The study found that teens now spend close to five hours a day on social media alone, and that doesn't even count texting, streaming, or scrolling through random videos before bed.

And you can see it.

We hear so much from teachers who talk about how students' attention spans are shorter than they’ve ever been before. And parents are noticing how much more difficult it is to get their kids off screens. You have probably even noticed that many times, a conversation is so difficult because the person you’re talking to has to intermittently look down and check something on their phone.

We’re living in a world where it makes it seem like kids aren’t as smart as they used to be. But actually, they have so much coming at them that it’s hard for them to focus sometimes. Brain rot is kind of a harsh word. And even though I know it’s hard to hear, it isn’t it something that we kind of already knew deep down?

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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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