Italy study warns of early social media use

A study conducted in Italy has found that students who begin using social media at an earlier age tend to perform worse in certain school subjects than their peers who start later.

Researchers from the University of Milano-Bicocca examined the impact of early social media use on children’s academic performance, CE Report quotes Anadolu Agency.

As part of the study, they analyzed surveys on the social media habits of more than 5,000 Italian students, along with their exam results in mathematics, Italian, and English.

The findings showed that 13- and 14-year-old students who opened their first social media account between the ages of 11 and 12 performed worse on exams than those who waited until at least the age of 14.

The study also found that while the performance gap was significant in mathematics and Italian, there was no noticeable effect on English, which the students learned as a foreign language. Researchers suggested this may be because much of the text and dialogue on social media is in English, providing students with additional language practice.

One of the study’s authors, Dr. Marco Gui, said the issue is highly complex.

“Our research suggests that, at least before adolescence, social media use is problematic,” he said.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

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