The Silent Decline: Investigating the Role of Digital Device Use and Sleep Loss in Falling Student Achievement

By Vitalia Sun, USA

Abstract:

This paper investigates the global decline in student academic performance since the early 2010s, focusing specifically on the impact of increased smartphone usage among teens. Using international test data and behavioral studies, it explores the two mechanisms through which increased digital device usage affects learning outcome: distraction from academic work and cognitive impairment. The role sleep deprivation plays in IQ reduction and mental health problems of teenagers is examined. The paper concludes that current policies focusing on banning phones during school hours are unlikely to reverse the decline, since they fail to address the problems occurring outside of school hours.

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Introduction:

After years of academic progress reflected in international standardized test scores like the PISA, which evaluates 15 year olds in reading, mathematics and science, the world witnessed a widespread decline starting in the early 2010s. Understanding the cause is crucial in crafting educational policies as many countries have noticed the urgency to reverse the course.

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Literature Review:

Global Decline in Academic Performance: According to OECD’s report, PISA test scores, for its 37 participating countries, have seen a 22 point decrease in Mathematics, a 19 point decrease in Reading, and a 15 point decrease in Science over the last 15 years out of a rough scale of 500 points. NCES scores reveal that the United States saw a steady rise in 8th grade math scores from 1990 - 2013, only to lose over 10 points out of about 280 in just a few years. This widespread drop suggests societal level changes at play in the years leading up to and accelerated since 2010.

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Smartphone Usage: The launch of iPhone in 2007 ushered in the age of smartphones, quickly spreading to teens. By the end of the 2010s, 20% of teens were using smartphones in the U.S. This figure continued to shoot up and has reached 97% today. The biggest leap took place between 2011 and 2015, where an additional 60% of teens started using smartphones. The sharp increase in smartphone ownership among children has been a worldwide phenomenon, e.g. in Norway and Romania, the number rose from 31% and 2% respectively in 2010 to 86% for both in 2020.

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Distraction from Academic Work: It has been established that smartphone usage leads to distraction from academic work. 30% of Swedish students report being actively distracted by their smartphone usage throughout the day, while 72% of American teachers claim smartphones are a major problem. The NIH links having smartphones taken away during class to students having higher course comprehension and mindfulness, as well as lower anxiety. Yet, the percentage of U.S. schools with restricted non academic usage of phones, dropped from 91% in 2010 to 66% in 2015.

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Adolescent Mental Health Issues and Cognitive Decline: The impact of smartphone usage on mental acuity is also well understood. In the early 2010s, Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine provided novel dopamine-driven content, and wireless data usage surged. The timing of these developments correlated with the beginning of the mental health crisis among teens. In both Nordic Europe and the U.S., teen depression rates fell until 2012, then rose sharply: by 2018, they rose by 76% for Nordic girls, 51% for boys, and by 145% and 161% for U.S. girls and boys, respectively. Even for children who have not suffered from mental health issues, there have been signs of impairment: IQ tests conducted between 2005 and 2014 show a slight decline in IQ levels among adolescents contradicting the famous Flynn effect. Any reduction in cognitive ability directly leads to the deterioration of academic performance.

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The Role of Sleep Deprivation: According to the NIH, sleep deprivation has negative effects on cognitive health and is directly linked to cause poorer overall verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) levels. In a 2009 sleep deprivation study hosted in Changsha, China, researchers compared IQ levels in children who were getting less than 8 hours of sleep and those getting more. The sleep deprivation subgroup had lower VIQ, IQ, verbal comprehension, and memory attention scores than the group receiving proper sleep. The CDC recommends 8-10 hours of sleep per night for those aged 13-18. However, as teens spend over 3 hours on their phones per day, and over 60% are on phones past bedtime hours, their ability to get 8 hours of sleep decreases drastically. The number of teens experiencing sleep deprivation rose sharply after 2013, and by 2024, 73% of teens fail to receive CDC’s recommended sleep. These findings show that smartphone usages directly contribute to increased sleep loss, which in turn affects students’ cognitive abilities and mental health, ultimately resulting in poor academic performance.

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The Exceptions: Among the regions that participate in the PISA test, a few have bucked the trend. Macau (China), Singapore, and Japan have maintained or improved their scores since 2010. Their rigorous academic standards, high parental expectations and digital discipline may be contributing factors. In general, they have not seen a substantial decrease in sleep levels among teens. For example, Japanese adolescents have slept a constant 7 hours and 30 minutes since the 1990s.

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Limitations of School-Based Phone Bans: Many countries have adopted or plan to enact policies to ban phones at school. While such policies are a step in the right direction towards addressing the epidemic of academic performance, they are unlikely to reverse the decline. Firstly, they only partially address the distraction issue and indications have shown that reduction in phone usage at school leads to increased usage out of school. Secondly, these policies fail to resolve the more serious effect of sleep deprivation due to excessive phone usage. Without addressing out-of-school behaviors, in-class phone bans will have a limited effect. A more comprehensive strategy to reduce the overall phone usages is needed and there has been encouraging development. Australia has recently banned social media access for children under 16. Similar legislation is being considered in Indonesia, South Korea, Norway, and a few other countries.

Future Research: Studies on interventions that can address out of school device usage, as well as its impacts on adolescent sleep and cognitive health are needed. Data from countries with policies that restrict social media usage should be carefully examined. Countries should also conduct experiments to test the effectiveness of parental digital curfews, like a mandatory “phone downtime” after a certain hour. Time will tell whether a combination of school effort, home based restrictions, and cultural shifts can reverse the decline in global academic performance

Methodology:​ 

This paper uses PISA and NCES test data from 2005 and onward, focusing on temporal and country specific trends in academic performance. CDC, NIH, and international survey data are examined to show that this decline coincided with a sharp rise in smartphone and social media usage among teens. Existing research results are included to illustrate the two key effects of smartphone usage: distraction from academic work and a decrease in mental acuity due to mental health issues and declined IQ levels. Data on smartphone usage’s role in reducing sleep, and sleep deprivation’s impact on cognitive health are shown. Evidence suggesting countries that avoided sleep declines maintained academic performance is presented. Lastly, the limitation of existing policies on smartphone usage is demonstrated. Though data used is largely correlational, the study presents strong evidence suggesting a causal link.

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