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Later is better: mobile phone ownership and child academic development, evidence from a longitudinal study

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  • Seraphim Dempsey
  • Seán Lyons
  • Selina McCoy

Abstract

Digital technologies have become an increasingly prominent feature of children’s lives both within and outside educational environments (McCoy, Quail, and Smyth 2012. Influences on 9-Year-Olds’ Learning: Home, School and Community. Dublin: Department of Children and Youth Affairs). Despite considerable media debate, we have little robust evidence on the impact of technology use on children’s development, both academically and socially. Much of the literature in this area relies on small-scale cross-sectional studies. Using longitudinal data on 8500 9-year-old children in Ireland, we examine the influence of early mobile phone ownership on children’s performance in reading and maths between 9 and 13 years of age. Across both reading and maths domains, children who already report owning a phone by the age of nine fare less well in terms of their academic development as they move into adolescence. The measured effects are sizeable, implying about 4 percentile lower ranking on standardised tests for an average student. Our results are consistent with the idea that there may be significant educational costs arising from early mobile phone use by children. Parents and policymakers should consider whether the benefits of phone availability for children are sufficiently large to justify such costs. We suggest a range of direct and indirect cognitive effects that could help explain these results.

Suggested Citation

  • Seraphim Dempsey & Seán Lyons & Selina McCoy, 2019. "Later is better: mobile phone ownership and child academic development, evidence from a longitudinal study," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(8), pages 798-815, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecinnt:v:28:y:2019:i:8:p:798-815
    DOI: 10.1080/10438599.2018.1559786
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. McCoy, Selina & Carroll, Eamonn & Ye, Keyu, 2024. "‘Embracing Diversity in all its Forms’: The Voluntary Secondary Sector in Irish Education," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS182.
    2. Smyth, Emer, 2022. "The changing social worlds of 9-year-olds," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS151.
    3. Mohan, Gretta & McCoy, Selina & Carroll, Eamonn & Mihut, Georgiana & Lyons, Seán & Mac Domhnaill, Ciarán, 2020. "Learning for all? Second-Level education in Ireland during COVID-19," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number SUSTAT92.
    4. Jesús de la Fuente & Erika Andrea Malpica-Chavarria & Angélica Garzón-Umerenkova & Mónica Pachón-Basallo, 2021. "Effect of Personal and Contextual Factors of Regulation on Academic Achievement during Adolescence: The Role of Gender and Age," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Melissa Bohnert & Pablo Gracia, 2021. "Emerging Digital Generations? Impacts of Child Digital Use on Mental and Socioemotional Well-Being across Two Cohorts in Ireland, 2007–2018," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(2), pages 629-659, April.
    6. Ann Marcus-Quinn & Tríona Hourigan & Selina McCoy, 2019. "The Digital Learning Movement: How Should Irish Schools Respond?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 50(4), pages 767-783.
    7. McCoy, Selina & Mihut, Georgiana, 2020. "Examining the experiences of students, teachers and leaders at Educate Together second level schools," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS113.
    8. Sarahjane Belton & Johann Issartel & Stephen Behan & Hannah Goss & Cameron Peers, 2021. "The Differential Impact of Screen Time on Children’s Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, August.
    9. Jie Hu & Jingdan Hu, 2024. "The influence of age at first regular digital device access on digital reading performance: the mediating effect of cognitive flexibility," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Melchor Gómez-García & Hassan Hossein-Mohand & Juan Manuel Trujillo-Torres & Hossein Hossein-Mohand & Inmaculada Aznar-Díaz, 2020. "Technological Factors That Influence the Mathematics Performance of Secondary School Students," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-14, November.

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