Observing the Doomscrolling Phenomenon among Teenagers, Thursina IIBS Students Thriumph Silver Medals in the WSEEC 2024

A team of junior school of Thursina International Islamic Boarding School have thriumphed a silver medal in the World Science, Environment and Engineering Competition (WSEEC 2024). They are Putri Irza Latihfa, Carissa Letizia Putri, A. Zahirah Aliyah Farid, Vania Shaista Suprapto, Khadija Purnama El Fajry who have impressed the judges with their research in the social science category (28/05).


The WSEEC competition was attended by 310 teams, divided into two categories; 263 teams taking part in the competition online and other 27 teams attending the event. They come from 18 countries, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, USA, Puerto Rico, Iran, Egypt, Malaysia, Philippines, Mexico, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong, India, and Kazakhstan. Even though almost all teams took part in the online competition, they were enthusiastic because it was their first.


The research undertaken by Thursina team is entitled From Doom to Bloom: Examining Adolescent Doomscrolling Phenomenon and Digital Detox Strategies, aiming to provide strategies and solutions on how to overcome the negative impact of doomscrooling phenomenon among junior high school teenagers.


Doomscrolling or doomsurfing is a term to describe someone who constantly scrolls through social media to read bad/negative news. The phenomenon is often encountered during the pandemics, such as COVID-19 pandemic and surprisingly continues today.  Although it leads to anxiety, doomscrolling perpetrators are relentless and even more curious to find out more about the issues aroused.


The result of the research has showed that 1 of 3 junior school students in Indonesia experiences doomscrolling. The best strategy to overcome the issue is to carry out routine activities such as hobbies.


The preparation for the competition itself has took 3 months, from formulating the idea to the final report. This idea, actually, emerged from personal experience of boarding school students in using social media.


The research, furthermore, will continue to be specified, especially regarding strategies to control doomscrolling phenomenon.


"To be more detailed, the researchers would create some innovations in the form of "games" with physical activity challenge to reduce the impact of doomcrolling." "They are currently in the preparation stage for the next research," said Ustadzah Risa Nur Fitriyana, S.Psi as the supervisor of the research (hel/lil)

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