Smartphone use for social media surpasses education among Telangana teenagers, raises concerns

According to the report, 92.3 percent of children aged 14 to 16 years know how to use a smartphone. While 61 percent utilize it for educational purposes, a significant 82.5 percent are engaged in social media browsing. This shift in smartphone usage has sparked concerns about its impact on students' academic performance.

Hyderabad: For several Telangana teenagers, scrolling through Facebook, Instagram or watching short videos on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube on smartphones has become more routine than using the devices for homework or learning purposes.

This has come to fore in the Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2024 report released by the Pratham, an NGO, which conducted the survey.

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As per the report, among the children aged between 14 and 16 years, 92.3 percent know how to operate a smartphone, while 61 percent used the device for educational related activity, a whopping 82.5 percent hooked to social media browsing. This shift in smartphone usage has raised concerns about the academic performance of students.

Overall, 82.2 percent of all children in the age group of 14-16 years in the country reported knowing how to use a smartphone. Of these, 57 percent know how to use it for an educational activity, while 76 percent said that they had used it for social media during the survey week.

Telangana

• For children age 14-16 years
• Have a smartphone at home: 96 %
• Can use smartphone: 92.3%
• Children who did any educational activity in reference week: 61.1%
• Children who used any social media in social media in reference week: 82.5%
• Among who used social media, children who can block/report a profile: 67.2%
• Among who used social media, children who can make a profile private: 60.8%
• Among who used social media, children who can change password: 62%
• Children who could bring smartphone to do digital tasks: 75.7%
• Children who could set an alarm on smartphone: 89%
• Children who could browse information: 84.4%
• Children who could find YouTube Video: 88.6%
• Percentage of children who found video could share: 98.1

Survey districts

• Adilabad
• Karimnagar
• Khammam
• Mahbubnagar
• Medal
• Nalgonda
• Nizamabad
• Ranga Reddy
• Warangal
• Surveyed villages: 270
• Surveyed households: 5,306