JAPAN / Society

Overuse of mobile gadgets hampers students' ability to study, sleep

Asked if they find it hard to get up in the morning, 78.1 percent of junior high respondents who often watch or use electronic devices, including TVs, game consoles, mobile phones and computers, immediately before bedtime said they sometimes or frequently do have trouble the next morning. | ISTOCK

By Shusuke Murai
Staff Writer

May 1, 2015

Excessive use of mobile phones causes students to fare poorly in elementary, junior high and high school, not only because it makes them lose their concentration due to a lack of sleep, but also because it apparently compromises what they have studied, researchers say.

Students who spend several hours each day staring into mobile phones or smartphones tend to change their sleeping habits and stay up late to use the devices, education ministry research published Thursday showed.

The research was conducted last November with 23,139 participants from the fifth grade of primary school up to the third year of high school, at 771 public schools nationwide.

Overuse of mobile gadgets hampers students' ability to study, sleep

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