Struggling students have worse phone experience

Secondary pupils who say they are struggling academically at school are more likely to report having more negative experiences on their phones, a study has found.

- JASMINE NORDEN

Students were particularly likely to have encountered content involving eating disorders, self-harm and suicide, and upsetting messages in online chat groups with other pupils if they said they were struggling compared with if they said they were thriving or “coasting” at school, the research by UWE Bristol academics found.

The study, which surveyed 3,721 secondary pupils at six schools in and around Bristol, asked students whether they were “thriving”, “coasting, or “struggling” at school.

Pupils were most likely to report themselves as coasting (52%). Only 10% said they were struggling at school.

Senior lecturer at UWE Bristol's School of Education and Childhood and study author Dr Ben Knight said young people who are struggling are likely to be experiencing several forms of struggle.

“It may not be a surprise, therefore, that they report higher degrees of challenge associated with their smartphone and social media use. In this context, we see this cohort as being particularly vulnerable to the most troubling dimensions of smartphone use,” he added.