According to the study, 40% of children own a phone by age nine, with those in socially disadvantaged schools more likely to own one.
In this day and age, it is not uncommon to see a pre-teen or someone even younger owning a mobile phone.
For some parents, allowing their child to have a mobile at a young age is due to practical reasons, especially if they have to make their own way too and from school.
For others, it can simply be pressure from their children who see their peers getting one.
However, no matter what the reason a parent allows their pre-teen own a phone, it can have a huge impact on how well a child performs in school, according to an ERSI study.
ESRI research uses @GrowingUpIre data to examine the academic performance of children who owned mobile phones at an earlier age. Find out more in today's @IrishTimes article. https://t.co/QV08JXThDM #ESRIpublications— ESRI Dublin (@ESRIDublin) January 15, 2019
Looking at the data from 8,500 children from the Growing Up In Ireland longitudinal study, the ESRI found that children who own a phone at age nine don’t perform as well on tests at age 13.
The research titled Later is better: Mobile phone ownership and child academic developmentfound that children who had their own phone, scored 4% less on average in standardised maths and reading tests.
The results remained the same when factors like socioeconomic class were taken into consideration.
New research shows that mobile phones are having a negative impact on children's reading and maths skills https://t.co/fqypQcxqxz via @IrishTimes— Nala Ireland (@nalaireland) January 15, 2019
"It is important to keep monitoring this going forward in order to provide evidence for the growing debate about the potential effects of screen time and mobile phone use of young people in Ireland," Selina McCoy, Associate Research Professor at the ESRI, said.
ESRI: Children who own mobile phones at age 9 do worse in tests at age 13 https://t.co/gzjYsZHc5P via @rte #edchatie— Seomra Ranga (@seomraranga) January 15, 2019
According to the study, 40% of children own a phone by age nine, with those in socially disadvantaged schools more likely to own one.
Those whose parents had higher education and higher income were less likely to own one at the same age.
The evidence keeps piling up.... Children who own mobile phones at age nine ‘perform less well’ in academic tests https://t.co/UUsZbkPBsP— carlobrien (@carlobrien) January 15, 2019
It is hoped that the results will help schools decide if they will restrict access to phones in primary school.
