Survey of parents'worries

According to a national poll of parents, the top five concerns rated as a big problem for their children were overuse of devices or screen time (67%), social media (66%), internet safety (62%) depression and suicide (57%) and bullying ( 53%). Around half of parents also named stress and anxiety, unhealthy diets and health care costs as big problems.

Mott Poll Report. (2023). Overuse of devices and social media top parent concerns. Author. https://mottpoll.org/reports/overuse-devices-and-social-media-top-parent-concerns. 

Teen screen time study

 

Researchers surveyed over 5,000 adolescents, mostly those ages 12 and 13, and found that recreational screen time among teens rose twofold to almost eight hours per day during pandemic lockdowns, compared with before the pandemic. The findings in JAMA Pediatrics also showed that Hispanic and Black teens and teens from lower-income families had more screen time use. Recreational screen time among U.S. teens doubled from before the pandemic to nearly eight hours per day during the pandemic, according to the report. And this estimate doesn't include time spent on screens for remote learning or schoolwork, so the total was likely much higher. "More screen time was linked to poorer mental health and greater stress among teens," said lead researcher Dr. Jason Nagata. "Although social media and video chat can be used to foster social connection, we found that teens reporting higher screen use felt less social support during the pandemic."

Nagata, J., Pietra, P., & Wartella, E. (2021, Nov. 1). Screen Time Use Among US Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. JAMA Pediatrics. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.4334

Family media use study

 A national study found that completing a family media use plan was not linked to statistically significant changes in media rule engagement among adolescents. An editorial that was published alongside the study delved into some of the reasons that can complicate using a family media use plan in adolescents including the increasing use of screens in both education and socialization as well as the urge to fight against parental expectations.

Moreno M, Binger K, Zhao Q, Eickhoff J. Effect of a family media use plan on media rule engagement among adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics. January 25, 2021. Epub ahead of print. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5629

https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/do-media-plans-impact-teen-media-use

Digital Divide report

 As digital learning is expected to expand, data shows 67% of K-12 schools -- affecting 31.5 million students -- do not meet the recommended threshold of 1 megabits per second per student, according to a national report. Yet, data shows some improvement in median bandwidth per student and costs.

Connect12: 2020 executive summary. (2020). Connected Nation. 

https://connectednation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Connect-K12_final.pdf

Pandemic impact on students

 Some high-school students feel more motivated to learn in school than online and do not have equal access to remote instruction, according to a national survey administered in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, from March 26 to April 1. Results also show the toll of the pandemic on students' mental health, with one sharing it felt like life was in chaos. "Most, but not all, students had access to the technology needed for online learning; however, many found it difficult to adapt." The study recommends addressing inequities of access to technology and Internet, addressing food insecuriy, considering the whole student, improving online instruction and materials.

Croft, M. et al. (2020). HIgh school students' experiences in March during the coronavirus pandemic. Iowa City, IA: ACT Center for Equity in Learning.  https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/R1841-covid-insights.pdf 

Student social skills and screen time study

A new study suggests that, despite the large amount of time spent on smartphones and social media, young people today are just as socially skilled as those from the previous generation. Researchers compared teacher and parent evaluations of children who started kindergarten in 1998, six years before Facebook launched, with those who began school in 2010, when the first iPad debuted. The findings show that both groups of kids received similar ratings on their interpersonal skills, including the ability to form and maintain friendships and get along with those who are different. The two groups were also rated similarly on self-control, such as the ability to regulate their temper. There was one exception, however: Social skills were slightly lower for children who accessed online gaming and social networking sites several times a day.

Downey, D. B., & Gibbs, B. G. (2020). Kids These Days: Are Face-to-Face Social Skills among American Children Declining?. American Journal of Sociology, 125(4), 1030-1083.

Online information literacy study

An international study found that only 2% of 8th graders could critically assess information found online. Economic status and parents' education (i.e., bachelor's degree or higher) correlated significantly with competency.
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. (2019). International Computer and Information Literacy Study. Amsterdam: Author.
http://www.iea.nl/publications/press-release/icils-2018-results-press-release

Student Media Literacy Research

A nationwide sampling of high school students were assessed for their ability to evaluate digital sources on the open internet. Nearly all students floundered. Ninety percent received no credit on four of six tasks. Some of the specific findings follow: 

• Fifty-two percent of students believed a grainy video claiming to show ballot stuffing in the 2016 Democratic primaries (the video was actually shot in Russia) constituted “strong evidence” of voter fraud in the U.S. Among more than 3,000 responses, only three students tracked down the source of the video, even though a quick search turns up a variety of articles exposing the ruse. 
• Two-thirds of students couldn’t tell the difference between news stories and ads (set off by the words “Sponsored Content”) on Slate’s homepage.
• Ninety-six percent of students did not consider why ties between a climate change website and the fossil fuel industry might lessen that website’s credibility. Instead of investigating who was behind the site, students focused on superficial markers of credibility: the site’s aesthetics, its top-level domain, or how it portrayed itself on the About page.

Breakstone, J., Smith, M., Wineburg, S., Rapaport, A., Carle, J., Garland, M., & Saavedra, A. (2019). Students’ civic online reasoning: A national portrait. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford History Education Group & Gibson Consulting. https://purl.stanford.edu/gf151tb4868

Media Use by Tweens and Teens 2019

This census report is a big-picture look at how young people in the U.S. find entertainment and use devices. Beyond screen time, the report explores other critical challenges for families managing media use, from internet access for homework to unregulated, unrated online videos.

Common Sense Media. (2019). Common Sense census: Media use by tweens and teens 2019. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media.  

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens-2019?j=7514895&sfmc_sub=168224478&l=2048712_HTML&u=137031445&mid=6409703&jb=220&utm_source=research_8-18census_2019&utm_medium=email 

 

Web search results study

In July 2019, for the first time, the majority of all browsed-based Google searches resulted in zero clicks away from the results page; google's functionality keeps users within the Google ecosystem rather than reffing them outside. 94% of all search engine searches happen on a Google property.
Fishkin, R. (2019, August 13). Less than half of Google searches now result in a click. SparkToro.
https://sparktoro.com/blog/less-than-half-of-google-searches-now-result-in-a-click/

Screen Time Use and Academics Study

Not all screen time is created equal, according to a review of 58 studies from 23 countries published recently. The review found that time students spent watching television and playing video games -- rather than time spent on the internet and using mobile phones -- negatively affected academics. Watching more TV impacted language and math abilities as well as an overall academic composite for teens; just language and math abilities were impacted in younger children. Teen scores appeared to be worse than those of younger children when the amount of time spent watching TV went up. On average, a typical child plays video games for 40 minutes a day and watches between 1.8 and 2.8 hours of TV each day. Almost a third of children and adolescents spend more than four hours a day on screens, with boys outpacing girls.
Adelantado-Renau M, Moliner-Urdiales D, Cavero-Redondo I, Beltran-Valls MR, Martínez-Vizcaíno V, Álvarez-Bueno C. (2019, Sept. 23). Association Between Screen Media Use and Academic Performance Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis . JAMA Pediatrics. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.3176
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2751330?guestAccessKey=f02523bb-1adb-4566-8f9f-02bab8189b69&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=092319

Internet Nonconnectivity Impact study

From the benefits of teaching lifelong digital citizenship skills to the challenges of preparing students to critically evaluate online information, educators across the country share their perspectives on what it's like to teach in today's fast-changing digital world. Nevertheless, about 12% of teachers said that more than 60% of students lack the home internet connectivity needed to complete their homework, according to a recent report.  In response, about 42% of teachers at high-poverty schools said they avoid assigning homework that would require an internet connection.
The Common Sense Census: Inside the 21st century classroom. (2019).  San Francisco, CA: Common Sense Media.
 https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-inside-the-21st-century-classroom-2019

Examining Online Trolls

A research project coming out of Cornell University and Stanford University found that online trolls are made, not born. Oftentimes, their origins come from how a person is feeling at the moment and whether others are displaying troll-like behavior too, the researchers found. Trolls, according to this report, are people who post disruptive messages in Internet discussions intended to upset others. While previous research has suggested that trolling behaviors are "confined to a vocal and antisocial minority," or sociopaths, the reserach has concluded that "ordinary people can engage in such behavior as well."

Cheng, J., Bernstein, M., Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, C., & Leskovec, J. (2017). Anyone can become a troll: Causes of trolling behavior in online discussions. Portland, OR: CSCW.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2998181.2998213

Anxiety and Depression Associated with Technology Use

Symptoms of internet withdrawal -- increased anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate -- are close to what drug addicts experience, according to a study by researchers at Swansea University and Milan University. Participants in the study reported spending an average of five hours a day online with most of that time spent on social media sites. The findings suggest that long term utilization of ICTs as an emotional coping strategy may have a negative influence on mental health and/or exacerbate mental health predispositions.

Other key takeaways from this study include:

-       High engagement with cell phones and internet is linked with anxiety and depression.

-       Using devices to alleviate boredom is not associated with anxiety and depression.

-       Using devices for emotional coping is associated with anxiety and depression.

-       Mobile phones may provide a “security blanket effect” in anxiety-inducing situations.

-       Path of short-term stress was almost the same irrespective of coping mechanism used.

Panova, T., & Lleras, A. (2016). Avoidance or boredom: Negative mental health outcomes associated with use of information and communication technologies depend on users’ motivations. Computers in Human Behavior, 58, 249-258. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.062