Children who create social media accounts when starting middle school receive lower test scores than their peers who delay this process by several years. A large-scale study conducted by scientists at the University of Milano-Bicocca showed that the scores of 11- to 12-year-old social media users in mathematics and literature lag significantly behind the results of children who started using social networks later, at least at age 14. By age 16, the academic gap between these two groups is equivalent to roughly six months of learning.
The study, the results of which were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, was based on the social media habits and standardized test results of more than 5,000 Italian schoolchildren. The researchers, led by Marco Gui, accounted for all confounding factors such as family structure, parental education, and the children’s academic performance prior to joining social media. Notably, a decline in academic performance was recorded in mathematics and native language, whereas social media had no negative impact on English language results—a finding likely explained by the abundance of English-language content on the platforms themselves and constant, even unconscious, exposure to the language.
One of the main factors driving this academic lag is cited as the habit of constantly checking smartphones. Scientists hypothesize that social networks keep adolescents in a state of continuous hyperarousal, which distracts their attention, interferes with their engagement with the physical environment, and makes focusing on assignments more difficult.
The study’s authors believe that the problem lies in the very architecture of the platforms. In their view, age restrictions alone—such as those currently planned by Australia and the UK—will not fully solve the problem, and alongside prohibitions, it is far more important to foster healthy social media habits in adolescents.
