A study of 14 to 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland has also found that pupils who spend three hours a day using computers to do homework get the best exam results.
However, pupils who spend more than three hours a day using ICT for homework did considerably worse.
The ICT and Me study, funded by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and published by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), followed 978 pupils at 13 schools in Northern Ireland throughout key stage 4. It also included focus groups with young people, parents and carers and interviews with teachers.
It found that four in 10 young people are spending four hours or more a day online during the year when they take their GCSEs.
Much of this time is spent on recreational activities. The report shows that around 41 per cent of pupils use ICT for non-homework-related activities for more than three hours a day, while 43 per cent record one to three hours’ usage.
Of the children who game twice a day, only 41 per cent achieved five GCSEs at grades A* to C compared with 77 per cent of those who played games “rarely”.
The study found no similar link between the use of social media and examination performance.
School staff interviewed for the research were particularly concerned about extent of gaming, reporting issues relating to attendance, punctuality and motivation – with particular difficulties including “gaming addiction” in relation to male pupils.
One teacher told researchers: “There’s a couple of dates throughout the year, (such as) when Grand Theft Auto is released. Quite a few children would take the day off to be able to go out and buy them, and obviously then to play them.
“We would get children who present themselves to school looking very tired and dishevelled and find it hard to engage and we would find that they are sitting up until the early hours of the morning playing games online.”
Another added: “We are an all-boys school and of our (cohort) in the current year 12, I would say three-quarters of them would be addicted to gaming.”
The report states: “The research has identified that intensity of gaming is linked to young people’s attainment and that those young people – the majority of whom are boys – who are intense users of gaming devices are placing themselves at considerable risk of underachieving relative to their peers.
“However, while there is a link between levels of gaming and attainment, the study did not set out to establish the factors (other than extent of gaming) that combine to impact on attainment – for example, do high levels of gaming interrupt normal sleep patterns resulting in poor attention/concentration in school, or are there other factors which contribute to poor attainment?”
Interestingly, the report points to previous research (Przbylski & Mishkin 2015) which found that, compared with those that did not play, teenagers who engaged in low levels of gaming (less than one hour a day) evidenced lower levels of hyperactivity and conduct issues whereas the opposite was found for those who gamed for three hours or more each day.
As such, the NCB study recommends that schools encourage parents to limit (rather than ban) the amount of time they allow their children to use a games console or portable games player.
When it comes to using computers for homework, the report finds that 43 per cent of pupils did so for less than one hour a day, around 44 per cent for between one and three hours a day, and around 13 per cent for more than three hours.
It finds that 79 per cent of those who used computers for homework for about three hours a day achieved five A* to C GCSEs. For those putting in two hours or one hour a day this figure was 70 and 75 per cent respectively.
However, only 57 per cent of those who put in more than three hours a day achieved this benchmark – the same as for those who put in no time at all doing homework on computers.
The report states: “Given the significant link or relationship between type of usage, level of usage and GCSE attainment, the leadership in each school may wish to consider reviewing their homework policy to ensure that teachers are encouraged to regularly set homework that requires the use of ICT (computer/laptop or other electronic device) at home.
“To facilitate this, schools may wish to consider making as much use as possible of C2KNI’s online learning platform and also to encourage young people to access and upload homework activities using this platform from home.”
Elsewhere, the report also calls for a targeted scheme to be introduced to provide the five per cent of pupils who do not have a computer and internet access at home with access.
Celine McStravick, director of the NCB in Northern Ireland, said: “Young People are often so confident in their use of new technology that we can forget they need our support to establish good habits.
“Our research shows that using a computer for homework can help pupils consolidate learning and do better in exams, so schools should be regularly setting homework that requires the use of a computer and the internet.
“Similarly, we need parents and carers to step in and limit excessive amounts of time spent gaming. If we support parents and schools to get this right young people will reap the benefits of using digital technology while side-stepping the pitfalls.”
The research is the first ever long-term-study in Northern Ireland of what impact a child’s use of ICT has on their GCSE attainment. It is available at www.ncb.org.uk/ictandme