The Impact of Electronic Device Screen Time on High School Students’ Academic Achieveme

Abstract

With the deep integration of digital technology into the educational field, the screen time of high school students has shown a significant increasing trend, making its relationship with academic achievement an essential topic for educational researchers. This paper explores the complex association between the two through a systematic literature analysis. The study finds a nonlinear “U-shaped” relationship between screen time and academic achievement. Specifically, students who use moderate amounts of time (1-3 hours per day on average) derive benefits from their time, having a positive or neutral impact on their academic performance, whereas students who use too much time (>4 hours) may suffer from the negative side effects of time displacement, attention loss, and sleep deprivation. In addition, students who use too little time (<1 hour) may lack the opportunity to take part in digital learning. Further research reveals that the type of content used is an important moderating variable, with educational content use associated with positive learning outcomes. In contrast, passive entertainment use may have adverse effects. Factors such as students’ self-regulation ability and family environment significantly moderate this relationship. Based on the findings, this paper suggests that educational interventions should shift from restricting duration to guiding high-quality content use and cultivating digital literacy, helping students optimize learning outcomes in the digital age.