Smartphone use can impact kids' reading skills

London, Sep 29 (IANS) Is your child addicted to smartphones or spends long time playing computer games? If so, beware, as he or she may be at risk of performing relatively poor in reading and maths skills, a new research shows.

The study found that parents play a major role on their children's performance.

Children whose parents have laid down rules over completing homework, tend to perform better, irishtimes.com reported.

Access to technology is not necessarily a negative factor, and children who have access to broadband and educational games perform better than those who do not.

However, long periods of unsupervised time where children use the internet, watching TV or play computer games can have a negative impact on students, the researchers said.

Students from two-parent households, better-off families and whose parents have higher education tend to perform significantly better.

Children who read for enjoyment and who are involved in a moderate amount of extra-curricular activities also fared well.

Further, nearly a third of children in second class were found to have smartphones. Those who did not own a phone had significantly higher reading and maths scores than those who did.

But, at sixth class, where more than 90 per cent had mobiles, phone ownership was not a factor on performance.

This performance varies across a range of factors including socio-economic status, home atmosphere and children's attitudes to school, the researchers noted.

Students from two-parent households, better-off families and whose parents have higher education tend to perform significantly better.

In addition, children whose parents frequently read or set aside time for their children to read for pleasure are more likely to perform better at reading.

Children who read for enjoyment and who are involved in a moderate amount of extra-curricular activities also fared well.

In the study, team of researchers from the Education Research Centre -- a research organisation, assessed reading and maths performance in 8,000 children among 150 primary schools across Ireland.

--IANS

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