Teenage girls spend more time on their phones, especially on social media platforms, compared to boys.

A new research report by academics at Stellenbosch University offers insight into South African teens’ smartphone habits.

Some of the key findings were that on average, adolescents spent three hours and 17 minutes per day on phones, girls use phones more than boys and were more on social media platforms. Boys play computer/console games. WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube were the most popular social media platforms. Most parents don’t limit or regulate children’s screen time.

The research by Dr Daniël le Roux from the Department of Information Science and Dr Jennifer Feldman from the Department of Education Policy Studies, aims to advance the understanding of the role of smartphones in the lives of adolescents.

Le Roux and Feldman collaborated with five former Model C high schools in Cape Town and Gauteng to collect data on how adolescents use their smartphones.

They also surveyed parents, teachers and school management teams about their attitudes towards smartphone use at home and in the classroom. In total 2 195 adolescents, 2 264 parents and 203 teachers participated in the project.

According to the findings, teens between the ages of 13 and 18 spend 197 minutes (3 hours and 17 minutes) per day on their phones, with girls using their phones more (219 minutes or 3 hours and 39 minutes) than boys (176 minutes or 2 hours and 56 minutes).

The researchers noted that daily smartphone engagement tends to increase with grade level, indicating older teens have an affinity for more screen time.

Notably, it is girls who dominate the social media landscape, with popular platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube capturing their attention more than boys, with 12% of girls reporting they check these platforms constantly.

Boys spend more time gaming on their phones (22.6 minutes per day) than girls (19.9 minutes per day). Boys also play more computer/console games (33.6 minutes per day on average) than girls (10.9 minutes per day on average).

The researchers said they were surprised to find that, given the increase in smartphone use among teens in recent years, most parents do not limit or regulate the amount of time their children spend on their smartphones.

“Just under 60% of adolescents indicated that their parents never limit the amount of time they can spend on their phones. 7% indicated that their screen time is always limited. Interestingly, boys' screentime tends to be limited more frequently than those of girls,” said the researchers.

Amidst concerns over the effects of such high smartphone engagement, the study further revealed that 93% of teens took their phones to school daily.

“The main motivation for this is the need to communicate with parents about after-school activities. Some schools also rely on mobile apps to share administrative information, making it difficult to implement blanket bans on phone use during school hours.

“While the data indicate that many teachers use smartphones as part of teaching and learning activities, most of them believe that phone use in class should only be allowed with the teacher's permission," they said.

They found that teens were also using tools like ChatGPT and Meta AI to generate essays, orals, and artwork for school projects.

The researchers found that because their study included only former Model C schools, the data was not necessarily representative of South African teenagers attending schools in underserved and rural communities.

Le Roux said the idea for the research came when a school approached him to collate research as they were considering renewing their policy and were thinking of banning cellphones at school.

"More schools then wanted to participate in this social impact project. The schools want to create a school environment that is optimal for learning. They want to harness their technology but avoid risks. Most schools allow phones to be kept on the child, but not for use during class time.

"We believe the optimal policy to consider is whether to create a physical distance between their phone and class time. Having the phone in the class is a burden on the teacher who has to then police it as it disrupts teaching time. Schools should consider having learners place their phones in a particular place during class to avoid any distractions," said Le Roux.

He also said there were numerous applications available for parents to enforce the percentage of control that their child uses their phone.

"It is important that parents have the conversation with their child about the role of online media in their life and to limit their screen time. Rather than endless scrolling on TikTok videos and non-educational games, they should rather focus on social media content that is beneficial to them," he said.

He said as a follow-up to the data they collected during this research, they intend to delve deeper into issues of cyber bullying and its effects on the well-being of adolescents and their academic performance, and the difference between parents and teachers attitudes towards smart phones in school.

They are also looking at gaming and gaming addiction and how it affects teens and their well-being, as well as where parents regulate the use of phones and whether it has any effect on their child's performance in school.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE