Early Social-Media Adoption Linked to Lower Grades in Italian Teens

Researchers at the University of Milano-Bicocca analyzed surveys from more than 5,000 Italian schoolchildren and found a correlation between opening a personal social-media account in the 6th or 7th grade (ages 11-12) and poorer results on standardized mathematics and Italian exams taken in the 10th grade (ages 15-16). The grade gap was roughly equivalent to six months of schooling. Students who delayed account creation until the 8th grade showed little or no statistically significant difference. The study also reported a higher probability of grade-repetition among the early adopters. No measurable impact was observed on English test scores, which the authors attributed to the predominance of English-language content on social platforms providing incidental language practice.

Gizmodo

The investigators matched participants on 5th-grade performance before any social-media use, controlling for family structure, parental education and prior achievement. Frequency of phone checks emerged as a strong predictor of the performance gap, suggesting that constant notification checking may disrupt attention. The researchers cautioned that the findings do not prove causation and emphasized the need for careful interpretation amid a polarized public debate.

The Guardian

The results arrive as several governments move to restrict minors’ access to social media. Australia enacted a ban for under-16s last year, France recently prohibited accounts for under-15s, and the United Kingdom is preparing a similar ban. The European Union is debating an under-13 threshold. In the United States, while no ban is under consideration, platform operators face extensive litigation. Following a March verdict, Meta, ByteDance and Google have been sued thousands of times over alleged addictive design features. Meta disclosed that a pending California-led claim could expose the company to up to $1.4 trillion in damages, a sum that would dwarf its current market valuation of about $1.5 trillion.

Gizmodo

Study lead author Dr Marco Gui described pre-adolescent social-media use as “problematic” and suggested that age limits could mitigate educational harms, though he warned that bans are “emergency policies” and that platform redesign to reduce social relevance is also needed. Child-psychiatry professor Dennis Ougrin echoed the view that the findings add to evidence linking early exposure to educational outcomes, recommending that parents, educators and policymakers focus on fostering healthy digital habits rather than outright prohibition.

The Guardian

The research implies that delaying social-media access until children are cognitively mature may protect academic performance, particularly in subjects requiring sustained attention such as mathematics. At the same time, the lack of impact on English suggests that some content can have ancillary educational benefits. Stakeholders are therefore urged to balance the risks of attentional disruption against potential language exposure when guiding young users’ digital behavior.

Gizmodo