One of the biggest rules for tweens and teens at school is that they’re not allowed to be on their phones. But many of them find ways around that and new research reveals just how much time they’re spending on their phones during the school day … and it’s a lot.
A new study from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute used advanced tracking technology to see how teens use their phones during school hours. It shows:
- Students spend more than an hour and a half (92 minutes) on smartphones during a typical school day.
- That accounts for 27% of their daily phone use, which averages 5.59 hours.
- But a quarter of kids use their phone more than two hours a day at school.
- So, what are they doing on their phones when they should be learning? Unsurprisingly, social media and messaging take up the most time.
- Instagram is the social site used most by teens at school, with study participants spending an average of 25 minutes on it just during school hours.
- Messaging and chat apps are used an average of 19.5-minutes during school hours.
- And they’re watching video streaming services, too, for an average of 17 minutes.
- Older teens seem to be the worst offenders, with those ages 16 to 18 logging about 33 more minutes of phone time during school hours than younger teens between the ages of 13 and 15.
- Girls also tend to use their phones more at school than boys, racking up around 29 minutes more during school days.
- If you’re thinking your kid can’t be doing this because you have screen time limits, think again. Parental rules and limits don’t seem to have much impact on school-hour phone use, according to the study. Kids with screen time limits from their parents use their phones about as much at school as those who don’t have parental rules.
Source: Study Finds
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