‘I’D STAY UP UNTIL 4AM. I WANTED TO BE NOTICED ON SOCIAL MEDIA’
AT the height of her addiction, Wiktoria Orlicka would regularly stay up until 4am checking for notifications on her smartphone.
Her schoolwork and attendance, social life and mental health suffered as her social media usage rocketed.
Now the 20-year-old, elected as Motherwell and Wishaw’s Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament in 2018, has embarked on a campaign to help other young people manage their screen time.
Mind Yer Time is the UK’s first digital resource to teach children and young people about the healthy use of smartphones and social media – offering tips and advice on sleep, body positivity and cyber crime. Miss Orlicka, a former pupil of St Aidan’s High School in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, sought out friends online after moving to Scotland from Poland aged eight.
By 14, she spent most of her time on social media and did not want to go to school. She was averaging three hours of sleep each night and her grades suffered. It was only when she made a close friend at school that she realised the benefits of face-to-face contact.
She said: ‘I struggled to find friends in high school. When told I could write stories online, I used it all the time. I found I could use it to chat to people, too.
‘There was a time I would stay up until 3am or 4am, looking at notifications that were coming in on my phone, people messaging me and me messaging them back. Even if it was a random notification, I’d still need to check it for fear of missing out. I wanted to be noticed on social media.
‘I didn’t want to go to school, I didn’t feel happy there. I wanted to stay in the house and online.’
She added: ‘I am part of the generation that uses technology on a daily basis. I was also a victim of the addiction it brings, and sleepless nights that come with it.
‘I wanted to help young people who struggle with this, and create something. Social media makes a huge impact on young people, positive and negative.’