Mobile phones, video games and school performance

Researchers at Michigan State University have been looking into the effects of mobile phone use and video games on children's academic performance. They followed 12-year-olds for three years asking them questions about how often they used mobiles and played computer games. They also measured the children's grades and visual-spatial skills and tested their maths and reading skills. They found that girls were more likely to use mobile phones while the boys were more likely to play computer games. There were no detrimental effects of mobile phone usage. Video games were strongly linked to poorer grades but playing video games did not seem to affect maths skills and actually improved visual-spatial skills which can be useful for science, technology, engineering and maths.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090324131454.htm