The rise in mobile phone use is putting great pressure on many kids today — pretty much like how they are pressured by peers to use drugs or drink alcohol. But before you give your children their own cell phone, perhaps you should make them agree first that the device wouldn’t get in the way of their schooling.
Researchers at the The Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine in Providence, Rhode Island, found that students spend nearly 12 hours with some form of media use, such as texting and social networking, and the habit is causing a decline on their grade point averages (GPAs).
Lead author Jennifer L. Walsh, Ph.D., and colleagues surveyed more than 400 freshmen women at a northeast university and found that cell phone use, social networking, movie/television viewing, and magazine reading were mostly associated with later academic outcomes.
In explaining the impact of media use to the students’ academic performance, Walsh said: “We found women who spend more time using some forms of media report fewer academic behaviors, such as completing homework and attending class, lower academic confidence and more problems affecting their school work, like lack of sleep and substance use.”
The researchers’ findings, which appeared in the journal Emerging Adulthood, is the latest to provide insight on the negative impact of mobile phone use.
Previous studies have linked the excessive use of mobile phones to increased risk of skin rashes, headache and fatigue, and hearing problems. There were also claims that the device can cause brain tumor or cancer, but according to a Danish study, there is no such association even with people who have been using a cell phone for more than 13 years.