---
title: "Screen time and school: What the Research Says"
description: "Plain-language summaries of studies on screen time and school: methods, findings, effect sizes and limitations."
canonical: https://research.askpoppy.ai/topics/screen-time/
last_updated: 2026-10-21
---

# Screen time and school: research in plain words

Long-running studies on how much time young children spend on screens and how they later do at school, and how far those associations go.

## Summaries (1)

### [Each extra daily hour of screen time in early childhood went with lower reading and maths levels in grades 3 and 6](/papers/li-2025-screen-time-academic-achievement-elementary-school/)

Xuedi Li et al. (2025) · Prospective cohort study (observational) · Peer-reviewed

Researchers in Toronto followed children recruited through family doctors and linked parents' reports of their screen time to the children's later provincial test results. Children whose parents reported more total screen time, and more TV and digital media time, were less likely to reach higher levels in reading and maths in grade 3 and in maths in grade 6. Writing showed no clear link. This is an association, not proof that screens caused lower scores.

## Free tools for this

- [Homework on a tablet or on paper?](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/guides/homework-on-a-screen/)
- [Screen-free AI and audio tools for kids](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/best-ai/screen-free-ai-for-kids/)
- [What to give a 9-year-old instead of a phone](https://learn.askpoppy.ai/guides/instead-of-a-phone/)

Each summary says what the researchers did, who took part, what they found, the limitations, and whether we read the full paper or only the abstract.

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