Teenagers who spend an extra hour a day surfing the internet,watching TV or playing computer games risk performing two gradesworse in quiz than their peers who don’t, according to research byBritish scientists.
In a study of more than 800 students aged 14 and 15, researchersfrom Cambridge University also found that physical activity had noeffect on academic performance.
Since this was a prospective study, in which the researchersfollowed the pupils over time to see how different behaviorsaffected performance, the scientists said it was reasonable toconclude that too much screen time reduced academicachievement.
“We only measured this.. in Year 10, but this is likely to be areliable snapshot of participants’ usual behavior, so we canreasonably suggest that screen time may be damaging to a teenager’sgrades,†said Kirsten Corder of Cambridge’s Center for Diet andActivity Research, who co-led the work.
The study, published in the International Journal of BehavioralNutrition and Physical Activity, found the average amount of screentime per day was four hours.
An extra hour in front of the TV or online at age 14-and-a-halfwas linked with 9.3 fewer quiz points at age 16 — equivalent to twogrades, for example from a B to a D. Two extra hours was linked to18 fewer points.
Unsurprisingly, the results also showed that pupils doing anextra hour of daily homework and reading scored better - getting onaverage 23.1 more points than their peers.
The scientists said further research was needed to confirm theeffect conclusively, but advised parents worried about theirchildren’s grades to consider limiting screen time.
In a breakdown analysis of different screen activities, theresearchers found that TV came out as the most detrimental in termsof quiz performance.
1. Summarize main points.
2. Verify article’s interpretation of results to pinpoint anyproblems, which resulted in incorrect conclusions orapplication.
3. State your interpretation of the study.
