Early Social Media Use Linked to Lower Grades Years Later, Study Finds
Earlier social media use in pre-teens might lead to worse academic performance later in life, according to a new study published Monday in Nature. According to the findings, students who then opened a social media account in the 6th grade, aka when they were 11-12 years old, scored worse than later social media adopters in standardized maths and Italian exams that they took in the 10th grade, when they were 15-16 years old. The difference in grade results was roughly equivalent to 6 months of schooling, the researchers write.
- ▪Earlier social media use in pre-teens might lead to worse academic performance later in life, according to a new study published Monday in Nature.
- ▪According to the findings, students who then opened a social media account in the 6th grade, aka when they were 11-12 years old, scored worse than later social media adopters in standardized maths and Italian exams that they took in the 10t
- ▪The difference in grade results was roughly equivalent to 6 months of schooling, the researchers write.
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| Publication time | Mon, 03 Aug 2026 16:00:44 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-08-03T16:05:41.248Z |
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Earlier social media use in pre-teens might lead to worse academic performance later in life, according to a new study published Monday in Nature. Based on a survey of more than 5,000 Italian teenagers, researchers from the University of Milano-Bicocca concluded that there is a correlation between how early a student opened a social media account and how much worse they performed academically four years…
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