Starting Social Media Early Linked to Lower School Grades, Italian Study Finds

Students who begin using social media at a younger age are more likely to achieve lower academic results, according to a recent study published in the journal 'Nature Human Behaviour.' The research, conducted by Professor Marco Gui's team at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy, tracked over 5,000 high school students aged 14 to 19.

The study analyzed the digital device usage habits of students in 28 northern Italian high schools and compared this data with their performance on national academic achievement tests (INVALSI). The findings indicated a clear correlation: students who started using social media in the 6th grade (equivalent to middle school in Korea, around age 11) performed worse in Italian and mathematics compared to those who began using social media later, in the 9th grade (equivalent to the first year of high school, around age 14) or even later.

Researchers quantified this difference, noting that 8th-grade students who created social media accounts in the 6th grade showed a decrease of 0.22 standard deviations (SD) in Italian and 0.18 SD in mathematics compared to their peers without social media accounts. The study's authors explained that a 0.2 SD difference in educational research typically corresponds to an academic lag of about six months.

Furthermore, the study found that students who habitually kept their smartphones close by and checked them frequently experienced a decline in academic performance ranging from 15% to 47%, although this varied among individuals. The research team concluded that delaying social media use until students reach a greater level of cognitive maturity could be beneficial for their academic progress.

“

Delaying the use of social media until cognitive maturity is reached will be helpful in terms of learning.