OWNING A PHONE IS BAD FOR CHILDREN, SAYS ESRI
Educational abilities are eroded, study finds
THE damaging effects of mobile phones on the academic performance of Irish children has been laid bare in a startling new study. Economic and Social Research Institute research has found that Irish children who own a phone at the age of nine are weaker at reading and maths at the age of 13 than their peers.
The findings strongly back up the Irish Daily Mail’s Protect Our Kids Online campaign, which has continued to raise concerns over the effects of smartphone use and unfettered internet access on children.
Pupils who have a mobile phone at the age of nine struggle academically compared to their classmates who don’t have a phone, performing less well in tests four years
later, according to the ESRI. Professor Selina McCoy from the think-tank told the Mail that children having mobile phones at this young age have their learning abilities eroded away as they suffer from sleep deprivation.
She added that the distraction of the devices is altering memory patterns.
Children who owned a phone at age nine scored 4% less on average in standardised reading and maths tests at age 13, the research found.
The research used data from 8,500 children in the Growing Up In Ireland study to examine the academic performance of children who owned a mobile phone at an earlier age.
Shockingly, as many as 40% of children owned a mobile phone by the age of nine, the ESRI report revealed.
Prof. McCoy said the report looking at the impact of mobile phones on children’s academic development was the first research of its kind here in Ireland.
‘It is important to keep monitoring this going forward in order to provide evidence for the growing debate about the potential effects of screen time and mobile phone use of young people in Ireland,’ Prof. McCoy told the Mail, placing emphasis on the poorer outcome children were having in reading and maths because of their phone use.
As many as 8,500 nine-yearolds in Ireland took part in the massive study.
‘We were able to take a look at the characteristics of children aged nine, including their performance on reading and maths,’ Prof. McCoy said.
‘You are comparing the characteristics of a child who had a mobile phone at nine, with a child who doesn’t, with the exact same socio-economic background. We are finding this net effect of mobile phone ownership with children of this age group is just not faring as well in both reading and maths domains. It suggests that there are more complex cognitive processes at play. Distraction and altering memory patterns have been found to be issues in this area.’
She added that the ‘shortterm gratification’ of mobile phone use had had an impact on the children’s learning.
‘The other big area is sleep deprivation and children at nine who have mobile phones. We suggest it might be having an effect which in turn is hampering their cognitive and learning development,’ Prof. McCoy added.
The Government-funded study, Later Is Better: Mobile Phone Ownership And Child Academic Development, indicates that children attending more socially disadvantaged schools are more likely to have mobile phones.
By contrast, children with parents who have higher incomes and higher levels of education are less likely to have phones at age nine. The association between phone ownership and test scores remains even when factors that typically influence test scores, such as socioeconomic class, are taken into account, Prof. McCoy said.
The ERSI suggests that sixth class, just ahead of going into secondary school, is a more appropriate age than nine to own a phone. ‘Nine is quite young. We would suggest that sixth class is time enough but that being said, for some children a mobile phone is necessary, but on the aggregated level, later would be better,’ Prof. McCoy said.
The Mail’s Protect Our Kids Online campaign has highlighted warnings from a number of experts about the effects smartphones and social media are having on young people. This newspaper also successfully campaigned for the digital age of consent to be raised to 16 last May rather than the Government’s plan to set it at 13.
The ESRI study’s authors said the results may help schools to make decisions on whether and when to restrict access to phones, particularly during primary-school years.
However, the Department of Education had not responded to queries from the Mail last night as to whether or not it would now regulate the use of mobile phones in schools.
The new research comes at a time when more and more schools are adopting social media ‘detoxes’ and implementing their own regulation in the area. Terry O’Sullivan, who is now the director of Tralee Education Centre, was the first teacher in the country to enforce an all-out ban on smart devices in a school.
Mr O’Sullivan, who implemented the measure last year as principal of Blennerville National School in Kerry, told the Mail he very much welcomed the ERSI study.
‘I think we should take these new findings by the ERSI very seriously, I think parents need to take note of this,’ he said.
‘All parents and schools across the country should now be made aware of this evidence-based research.
‘My opinion has always been that no child should ever be allowed a smartphone while in secondary school. This is the first piece of evidence-based research in this area, so we really need to take this seriously. We now can say phones are impacting on our children’s education in a negative way, given these new findings.
‘Their minds are not focused on schoolwork but are tuned in to the virtual world and this needs to stop. It’s time that all parents now wake up and stop purchasing these devices for children.’
As well as Blennerville NS, Clarecastle National School in Co. Clare last year drew up a ‘Family Media Use Plan’ outlining when and where pupils use the internet at home. Comment – Page 14 sean.dunne@dailymail.ie
They scored 4% less on average ‘We need to take this seriously’