Nearly 70% of kids spend more time on their devices over the summer compared to the school year, but that probably doesn’t surprise you. It’s time for kids to let loose after two semesters of hard work. What might encourage you is that a healthy number of students, particularly those in grades 2 through 8, are engaged in summer learning—and parents deserve the credit.
That’s according to a recent survey of 1,000 parents by Lingokids, a learning app. The researchers sought to understand how much screen time kids get over the summer and for what purpose.
Despite the low age range of the kids sampled, one might consider their screen time pretty significant. Nearly 62% of children spend more than one hour daily on a device. Another 32% spend more than two hours in front of a screen each day, according to parents surveyed.
However, not every kid’s screen time is wasted on what some parents would consider “brain rot.” In fact, 60% of parents believe that their children consider education screen time fun and playful, and 56% say educational apps help prevent the “summer slide” associated with the extended time away from school.
Parents were also asked how they leverage technology and other methods to mitigate learning loss over the break. Here’s what they said:
- By letting them use/play educational apps and games (55.66%)
- Teaching them at home (44.93%)
- Educational camps (33.49%)
- TV shows/movies (31.23%)
- Summer school (30.87%)
- I don’t worry about my child/ren experiencing “the summer slide” (15.49%)
“We know that reading, math and other academic skills can see slippage when school is out of session for the summer break, while parent involvement is important, interactive learning apps may be effective in moderating summer learning loss by sustaining practice in core areas like English and STEM,” Chair of the Lingokids Advisory Board Suzanne Barchers said in a statement.
Parents also broke down the content their child engages with on their devices. Educational apps (66.15%) emerged as the most common content type, followed by:
- Games apps (those with no learning objectives (54.83%)
- Video streaming apps (46.48%)
- Communication apps (37.54%)
- Social media (36.11%)
- Music apps (32.66%)
DA coverage
For a more in-depth look at how kids are spending their summers on their devices, click here. Or, check out District Administration’s recent coverage on student achievement and well-being below:
- Marlin ISD was failing. Now this superintendent is changing trajectories
- Student report card: What kids think of their schools
- Reversing pandemic slides: How does your state compare?
