You might have heard about this research recently. Although it focuses on older pupils, we think it’s just as relevant for primary-aged children: too much screen-time can undermine learning.
An extra hour a day of television, internet or computer game time in Year 10 is linked to poorer grades at GCSE, a Cambridge University study suggests, as reported by BBC on-line.
The researchers recorded the activities of more than 800 14-year-olds and analysed their GCSE results at 16. Those spending an extra hour a day on screens saw a fall in GCSE results equivalent to two grades overall.
The researchers analysed the habits of 845 pupils from schools in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk at the age of 14 years and six months. They researchers correlated the data with the pupils’ GCSEs, taken the following year.
Pupils who did an extra hour of homework and reading performed better than their peers.
On average, the 14-year-olds said they spent four hours of their leisure time each day watching TV or in front of a computer. The researchers found an additional hour of screen-time each day was associated with 9.3 fewer GCSE points at 16 – the equivalent of dropping a grade in two subjects. Two extra hours of screen-time was associated with 18 fewer points – or dropping a grade in four subjects.
Interestingly, a teacher in school accidentally discovered similar results. When teaching about data and statistics, she asked the class how many TVs were in the home. Broadly speaking, those who reported fewer TVs in their homes were children who were making the best progress.