Children using social media at younger age appear to do worse in school tests
Pupils who open accounts aged 11 to 12 score lower in some subjects than those who wait a few years, study finds Children who open social media accounts at the start of secondary school appear to perform worse in tests than those who delay, with researchers suspecting that the constant checking for updates is a major distraction for many students. Pupils who opened their first social media…
A study suggests that pupils who begin using social media at 11 to 12 years old tend to perform worse in school tests compared to those who wait a few years. Researchers from the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy discovered that students who opened their first social media account at 11 or 12 scored lower in mathematics and reading exams at ages 13 to 14.
The performance gap persisted into late adolescence, with the difference equivalent to about six months of learning. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, examined the social media habits of over 5,000 Italian schoolchildren and their exam results in maths, Italian, and English. While the researchers did not prove a direct link between social media use and lower test scores, they noted that constant notifications and the need to check social media may be contributing factors, potentially leading to decreased focus on academic tasks such as homework.
The impact on English test scores was minimal, likely due to the prevalence of English-language social media content. The findings align with recent efforts in the UK to introduce a social media ban for under-16s, following a similar policy in Australia. Experts suggest that rather than banning social media altogether, parents, educators, and policymakers should focus on promoting healthy habits for young people when using these platforms.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
