An Italian study of over 5,000 pupils found that children who joined social media in primary school later scored about half a year behind peers who waited.
Italian researchers tracked school results and social media use among 5,227 pupils and found that children who joined platforms in the final year of primary school scored, on average, half a year behind those who waited until early secondary school. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour, controlled for age at first use rather than total time spent online. For Christian media and technology organisations producing content for children and teenagers, the finding adds to a growing body of research examining how early platform access shapes young audiences. It does not address content type or context, only timing of account creation.
Source: ECMS 2026