ATTENTION DEFICIT IN DIGITAL TIMES: HYPERSTIMULATION, LEARNING AND CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL CHALLENGES

Abstract

The expansion of digital devices, social networks and algorithmic platforms has profoundly changed the ways children and adolescents pay attention, interact and learn. In the school context, teachers increasingly perceive students with concentration difficulties, impulsivity, low cognitive persistence and fluctuating academic engagement. Although some of these conditions are related to recognized neurobiological disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the influence of environments marked by sensory hyperstimulation, informational fragmentation and continuous consumption of rapid stimuli is also evident. This article critically discusses the relationships between digital culture, attention deficit and contemporary school difficulties, avoiding clinical or technological reductionism. It is based on studies from neuropsychology, education and digital culture, drawing on authors such as Barkley, Diamond, Carr, Wolf, Han, Santaella and Freire. It argues that schools must recognize the complexity of the phenomenon by combining pedagogical support, attentional self-regulation practices, methodological revision and conscious use of technologies. It concludes that attention has become a central issue in contemporary education and demands institutional responses integrating science, pedagogy and ethics.