Study Finds A Good Reason To Limit Young Teens To An Hour Of Gaming Daily

Though parental control apps for various gadgets have become common and easily accessible, controversy still remains over how much time a child or teenager should spend in the digital world. A new study from Rutgers University offers an answer, at least when it comes to young teens: no more than an hour daily on school days unless you want to risk their educational performance.

The findings come from the university's Center for Gambling Studies, which found that young teens who spend more than an hour a day online or playing video games for recreational purposes were far more likely to have poorer test scores and lower grades compared to peers who spent less than an hour online.

Of course, the Internet serves as a wonderful portal to both educational and recreational activities. Online resources remain an important tool for accessing materials and connecting with peers. However, the recreational use of social media, video games, and other Internet portals on school days may negatively impact one's school performance, according to the study.

The data involved around 10,000 middle schoolers who were surveyed as part of the China Education Panel Survey. The results found that young teens who were using these devices for recreation four or more hours daily were also four times more likely to skip school. Moderate use during the school week, however — meaning less than an hour a day — was found to result in less boredom during school.

This doesn't mean recreational use of the Internet and video games needs to be so restricted 24/7, however, with the study noting that the number of hours spent online could be increased to four hours daily on the weekend.