According to the latest research, excessive internet use affects students' school absenteeism rates.
On April 16, a group of six scientists from Finland published a new study on the link between sleep patterns, physical activity, excessive internet use, and school absenteeism among students. The study, based on data from 86,270 teenagers aged 14-16 in Finland, was published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood .
The study results showed that 34.7% of young people surveyed slept less than 8 hours per night during school days, and 34.3% participated in little physical activity (i.e., less than 3 days a week with a minimum of 1 hour each day). In addition, all three factors—low sleep, lack of physical activity, and excessive internet use—affected unauthorized absences or absences due to health reasons.
The study also found that female students tend to overuse the internet more than male students. Simultaneously, truancy or absences due to illness can be mitigated by healthy sleep and exercise habits, along with strong family relationships. Notably, teenagers who feel comfortable sharing their problems with their parents are 59% less likely to skip school and 39% less likely to miss school due to illness.
The research team added that to assess whether students were truly overusing the internet, they measured five aspects: neglecting family, friends, and studies; anxiety if they weren't online; and not eating or sleeping because of online browsing. Students were asked to estimate each aspect on a scale from 1 (never) to 4 (frequently) to provide an overall average score.
The results showed that the average score of over 86,000 students was below 2, and only over 2% (1,881 students) achieved the maximum score of 4.
In many developed countries, high school dropout rates are becoming an alarming problem.
The research team from Finland stated that this was an observational study and it was not possible to draw firm conclusions about a causal relationship between the factors. Furthermore, the survey data did not address how students used the internet. "Despite its limitations, the research findings have significant implications for improving students' health and academic performance," the authors noted.
High rates of school absenteeism are a problem many developed countries have been facing recently, especially in the post-Covid-19 years. In the UK, for example, absenteeism reached a record high in the 2022-2023 school year, with 1 in 50 students in public schools missing at least half of their lessons. This figure is 1.5 times higher than in the 2018-2019 school year, before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from the UK Department of Education .
Meanwhile, in the U.S., an estimated 26% of public school students nationwide were absent regularly during the 2022-2023 school year, a 15% increase from pre-pandemic levels, according to data from 40 states and Washington, D.C., compiled by the American Enterprise Institute. Regular absences are typically defined as missing at least 10% of the school year, or approximately 18 days, for any reason.
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