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Does heavy electronic media use in children impact on their academic performance? A case

study of Melbourne City, Australia

Subesh Shanmugam
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Does heavy electronic media use in children impact on their academic performance? A case

study of Melbourne City, Australia

Introduction

Today most people spent their leisure time watching TV, using a computer, smartphones,

among others. On average, in Australia, Australians spend seven hours daily watching TV or

browsing their smartphones. And in the U.S, according to Richter (2019), it is more than ten

hours. Previously, electronic media devices were only shared among adults-18 years and over

but today, because of economic development, even adolescents (7-18 years) have almost

unlimited access to smartphones, TVs, and smart tabs. Electronic media usage among

adolescents has caused several heated debates among parents and policymakers whether usage

impacts young children's academic performance. Electronic media sue can be Watching TV,

using smartphones, playing video games, and many other electronic gadgets. Many research

links the heavy use of electronic media to physical health risks such as poor sleep, obesity, and

persistent fatigue. While on the other hand, information access, technological skills development,

and social connection are among the many benefits of electronic media use. Some stakeholders

suggest that allowing young children and adolescents to watch too much TV may affect

children's learning, although its effect on academic performance is not apparent.

The fact that education plays a vital role in determining the quality and well-being of life in the

children's future, parents, policymakers, and other stakeholders must ensure that nothing affects

children and adolescents' learning process. If children are to learn and complete their studies

successfully, it is essential to guide and assess their academic performance. During the early
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school years, children's educational difficulties are more evident, and parents can predict

academic outcomes. At this time, adolescents spend most of their time using electronic media

rather than reading and learning.

This study aims to find out the impact of heavy electronic media use on adolescents' academic

performance.

Method required to find the solution

In order to find out how hours spent using electronic media by adolescents impact the academic

performance of the children, data on electronic media use hours and grade score will be entered

into MS. Excel and different graphs generated. The different graphs such as the scatter plot, and

other will be used to investigate the relationship between electronic media use and the academic

performance of young children of age between 8 and 10 years.

Application of the mathematical strategy

Relevant data and information

Over the past years, the widespread use of electronic media has become of the most formidable

and reliable means through which most children across the world can teach (Adelantado-Renau

et al., 2019). It is evident that the different on-screen activities like smartphones, computers, and

television viewing impact how children conceptualize other ideas in the classroom setting.

However, it is also clear that most electronic media use in a case study of schools often affects

adolescents due to the associated health risks like poor sleep and obesity. Given that education

plays a vital role in the welling and health, it is paramount to note that conceptualizing media

effects on the child's performance must be considered. The above is further studied with the
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predictive school dropout and academic failure patterns (Adelantado-Renau et al.,2019). The

associated trends are, in most cases, explained by the evident autonomy regarding the different

media that they consume.

Media use can affect a child's academic performance in early childhood education in several

prevailing perspectives (Bell, Bishop, and Przybylski 2015). In most, media displaces other

related activities like homework, sleep, and physical activities, which often affect the child's

academic performance over the years. In addition to the above, media also has a considerable

potential to affect children's concentration in cases where they always become susceptible to

screen viewing. The above negatively affect their behaviors and beliefs, cognizant of their

contribution to their learning outcomes (Bell, Bishop, and Przybylski 2015). The best way to

learn is learning while having fun at the same time (Bell, Bishop, and Przybylski 2015). Video

games provide this environment with beautiful animations, colors, eye candy, and winning

rewards. This facilitates a smooth and exciting learning process for children between the ages of

7 to 14 years.

Many people prefer different types of educational systems these days. Online learning or

distance education gives intense competition to the traditional teaching and learning methods

prevalent. Keeping this in mind, there have been many attempts that are made to integrate the use

of social media and related technologies in this sector as well (Chassiakos et al., 2016). This

medium proves to be very helpful when students prefer to learn through the mode of

collaborative learning. Information and Communication Tools play an important role in

providing the best quality education to the students. However, motivation is the central driver in

conducting any work. In an e-learning environment, when an instructor starts to teach his

students, the first important thing to consider is checking the motivation level, which each
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student needs to possess regarding learning from this advanced education mode. In some of the

cases, it might happen that students will be demotivated for learning through this mode. They

might find them more comfortable with the original classic method of teaching. Hence, the

instructor needs to have such knowledge of all the students.

Electronic media is broadcast that electronic devices enable such as television, internet, DVDs,

and computer, among others. Hence electronic media use includes activities such as watching

TV, using computers, smartphones, and others. Mundy et al. (2020) argue that electronic media

use has several ways to affect adolescents' academic performance. Electronic media use affects

academic performance by displacing other essential activities such as sleeping, homework, and

others with a close association with academic performance. Moreover, adolescents who heavily

use electronic media have a lower concentration. Each time they are in class, their minds are

believed to be stuck to what they watched on TV and, therefore, cannot concentrate, which leads

to poor academic performance.

However, young children adolescents activits such as Chalfoun & Davidavičienė (2020) believe

electronic media use is beneficial somehow. Electronic media has vast knowledge that is used by

adolescents. For example, TV programs such as Sesame Street have been consistent in

supporting adolescents learning. Furthermore, students can search for information via the

internet using a computer, which improves their academic performance.

Sample

In this paper, a sample is used to make inferences about the population because it is

uneconomical to use the whole population. In this paper sample data from 100 respondents has

been used to make conclusion about the population. To avoid bias, random sampling was used.
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Random sampling is where every element used in research has equal chances of being selected

and used in the survey. This minimizes bias and thus helps to make reliable conclusions about

the population.

Procedure

Since it was not practical to collect primary data, secondary data from the Australian statistics

bureau was used. The data was analyzed using excel spreadsheet. And it is from Excel that

relevant graphs were generated and results interpreted to investigate whether there is a

relationship the two variables-hours of electronic media use and academic performance for

children age 8 to 10.

Mathematical calculations and results, using appropriate representations

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6 66 4 56
6 65 4 54
Data Entered
Electronic 6 65 4 54
media 6 65 3 98
usage in Grade 6 64 3 90
hrs Score in % 6 60 3 90
12 43 6 57 3 78
10 45 6 56 3 78
10 45 6 56 3 77
9 65 6 56 3 76
9 55 6 56 3 75
9 45 5 87 3 70
9 43 5 80 2 90
8 65 5 76 2 89
8 65 5 76 2 87
8 60 5 70 2 87
8 58 5 70 2 80
8 55 5 69 2 78
8 45 5 67 2 77
8 45 5 67 1 89
7 69 5 67
7 68 5 67
7 67 5 65
7 65 5 65
7 58 5 65
7 56 5 65
7 55 5 65
7 50 5 57
7 46 5 56
7 46 5 55
7 45 4 89
7 42 4 87
7 40 4 87
6 87 4 80
6 87 4 78
6 78 4 78
6 78 4 77
6 72 4 76
6 68 4 76
6 67 4 70
6 67 4 67
6 67 4 67
6 66 4 65
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Calculation of Mean and Standard Deviation

∑ xi
Mean: x́=
n

Using MS. Excel, the mean hours spend using electronic media and the mean grade score for the

adolelescents are calculated:

Means school grade score for the children = 67.03%.

Mean hours spent using electronic media = 5.42 hours.

Standard Deviation

The standard deviation of the school grade score is = 13.43104725. This means that the

dispersion from the mean score is 13%.

Relationship between Electronic media usage hours and school grade score

Table 1.1

Relationship between Electronic media usage hours and

school grade score
120

100

80
Grade Score

60

40

20

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Electronic Media Usage Hours
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Figure 1.1 (Scatter plot) represents the relationship between the children's school grade score and

the number of electronic media usage hours. And observing the trend line in figure 1.1, it is clear

that there is a negative relationship between the children's grade score and the number of hours

spent using computers, smartphones, and watching TV. The more hours children using electronic

media-watching TV and using other smart gadgets, the lower is likely to be their grade score.

However, even though the scatter plot suggest that there a relationship between electronic media

use hours and academic performance of adolescents, it does not tell us the strength of the

relationship

Standard Normal Distribution

From the sample survey results, it is seen that hours of electronic use affects the adolescents

school performance but to ensure that the sample is representative of the population from which

the sample was randomly drawn, the assumption will be that the data set follows a normal

distribution.

And that the population standard deviation = 1. Population mean = 0.

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Analysis and interpretation of results

After the data is collected, it will be entered into the computer, and analysis will be done in a

spreadsheet. Different variables, such as the number of hours spent using electronic media and

grade scores, will be analyzed to find associations. Each child's grade score and hours of

electronic media usage will be captured in the questionnaire. It will be the basis for ascertaining

whether there is an association between the two variables. In the study, the main variables are

electronic media use hours and school performance, measured as grade scores.

It is also clear to note that electronic media has become one of the most popular leisure-time

activities amongst several children, along with adolescents. The associated effects of such media

use have been debated in several ways due to both the positive and negative impact that it

presents to the users. However, in 2020, most countries worldwide have realized the importance

of electronic media due to Corona Pandemic's effects that have hit the entire world. Therefore,

one would argue that the use of electronic media among children is one way that must be

adopted. It allows for positive outcomes in terms of access to learning materials and teachers

online without physical contact. The above needs to be advocated across the entire education

arena, given its dynamics in the problematic learning conditions.

Assumptions and limitation of the study

The study's assumptions are the parents will provide accurate information regarding the hours

spent watching TV and the grade score of the children. It was assumed that since the survey is

both beneficial to the government and the parents, the parents would not provide false

information. However, since a higher number of hours of watching TV by the children imply that

the parents are careless about controlling their children, some parents would have to lie about the
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electronic media usage hours, especially when the child is a poor performer in school. Therefore,

in some instances, respondents were asked how they control their children from excessive

electronic media consumption. The parents also were asked questions such as how much they

spend with their children at home. Such items were to ascertain whether the parents left their

children alone at home for long hours.

Limitations of the study

The study's number one limitation was the lack of enough time and the required finances to cover

a more relatively larger sample. A sample of 100 parents was used because the time was limited.

A longitudinal survey was the most appropriate for this survey, but it was not possible because of

limited time. 30 days were used to visit all the homes and each day, four homes were visited. If a

larger sample was used, it would have been expensive because it would have required visiting

more households and using more paper. After all, the questionnaires were a hard copy.

Discussion

There have been several studies done on the relationship between heavy electronic media usage

and health. Still, little research has been done to find how electronic media usage impacts

children's academic performance. This study revealed that children aged 8-10 who watched TV

for only 1-4 hours daily performed well in school. Their school grade score ranged from 70% -

90% compared to those who exceeded an average of 5.4 hours. Those who exceeded the average

of 5 hours of watching score averagely 65% and below. Those who watched TV for more than 8

hours, the scores were even worse. Most of them performed poorly, scoring averages 40 percent.

From the survey results, it was revealed that heavy usage of electronic media impacts academic

performance of children. Children who spend many hours watching TV, using a computer and
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other electronic devices perform poorly compared to those who spend less time watching TV.

This, therefore, means that it should be a concern of every parent to ensure that their children

reduce electronic media use hours. There are several ways parents can guide their children and

stop the problem. One of the techniques is to ask the children to work on their homework, or if

there is no homework given from school, the parent can make it a routine to provide them with

work. This would help keep them occupied throughout the day. Another method is to educate

them that too much TV is watching unhealthy and retards their mental capacity to think.

Therefore, they should refrain from TV and other electronic media devices. This would make

them make better choices in terms of how they spend their time. This would be the best way

because it would upon them to decide. And since they would have decided for themselves, there

would be no need for monitoring. Other methods of reducing the time children spend on

electronic devices is limiting availability. For example, if the children have access to computers,

it would encourage them to use them, unlike if the computers are unavailable. So limiting

accessibility would work best.

Conclusion

This study on the impact of electronic media use on academic performance is vital in child

management, especially for young and older parents who have child management problems.

Many parents have not been aware that leaving children to watch TV for long hours impacted the

academic performance of the children. But since the survey has unearthed the facts, the parents

now know what should be done. At an early age, children encounter several difficulties that lead

them to fail in their academic life. So identifying the factors that affect them and hinder their

academic success is critical. This study has provided parents with good knowledge of how to

manage children at home. However, it should be understood that electronic media use to give the
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children beneficial information that can also improve academic performance. However, the

length of time the children stay on TV should is what matters.