British teenagers among world’s heaviest internet users, and it is making them miserable

BRITISH teenagers have been warned they are putting their mental health at risk by spending longer on the internet than virtually any other nation.

Staring at a screen for hour after hour can lead to unhappiness and leave them susceptible to bullying, an international report has found, with girls af- fected most severely. Nearly one in four pupils in the UK are now considered “extreme” internet users, with tens of thousands spending three times longer online than the average in the rest of the developed world.

British children spend 188 minutes per school day online as well as using social media at home. Only Chilean youngsters spend longer browsing the web. The study – based on the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests, which surveyed 540,000 pupils aged 15 – also found that British teenagers rank in the bottom 10 nations for life satisfaction.

Unhappiness is more pronounced among girls, with just 28 per cent stating that they feel “very satisfied” with their lives, and students from disad- vantaged backgrounds, who are more likely to feel alienated and unable to progress into higher education.

According to researchers, girls suffer higher levels of bullying, are more likely to worry about their exams, and become more “nervous” than male peers when they are unable to solve tasks in class.

The study added that the UK is lag- ging behind other developed countries in tackling problems surrounding emotional well-being. A quarter of British pupils reported being bullied at least a “few times a month”, while 14 per cent said they were bullied often – nearly double the average globally.

Researchers claim that these teenagers are turning to the internet as a “coping mechanism” and face a heightened risk of suffering from sleep disorders, obesity, stunted academic attainment, depression and an inability to develop real-life relationships.

A Department for Education spokesman said it was “working with schools and parents to help improve young people’s resilience, boost their confidence and tackle bullying by investing £4.4 million in anti-bullying projects”.