Children’s literacy levels fall as social media hits reading

HEAVY use of social media by children has been linked to lower levels of literacy for the first time.

The University College London (UCL) study, based on 11,000 children tracked from their births in 2000, found time spent on social media could detract from reading and homework.

Prof Yvonne Kelly, the director of UCL’S International Centre for Lifecourse Studies, said the findings suggested a link between “the amount of time young people spend on social media and their levels of literacy”.

She said it was now time for the Government to consider setting official “healthy” time limits on children’s social media use outside school.

In an article for the Royal Society for Public Health’s “scroll-free” campaign she said warned that hours spent on social media appeared to “impact negatively” on young people’s well-being, with “knock-on effects for their longerterm prospects at school and work”.

Around half of the teenagers spent time on social media on a weekday (61 per cent of girls compared to 39 per cent of boys). One in 10 spent more than three hours a day. Only 40 per cent did homework on an average weekday, with boys (35 per cent) less likely than girls (44 per cent). Just one in 10 spent any spare time reading.

Dr Cara Booker of Essex University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (IESR), said the tendency to use shorthand words on social media or texts – such as “nite” “u” and “@” – could be having an impact on literacy.

Research by UCL and the IESR also found the heaviest users of social media suffered higher depression levels, with girls more at risk than boys.

Prof Kelly said it may now be time “for recommended healthy and safe limits of social media use”, adding that “a focus on girls, especially initiatives to boost their mental health, could help mitigate some of the negative effects”.