Research shows that 40 percent of children spend more than three hours a day on social networks

Research on the habits of young people on the Internet, presented on Wednesday, showed that 40 percent of children spend more than three hours on social networks during the working day, and 62 percent during the weekend, while 1.6 percent of children show symptoms of social media addiction. networks.

The research is part of the “Tools for Modern Times” project, a program for the prevention of children’s risky behavior on the Internet, which is carried out by the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation (ERF) in cooperation with Croatian Telecom.

The research was conducted on a sample of two thousand seventh and eighth grade elementary school students from 16 counties, and focused on internet usage habits, playing video games, and mental health.

Zagreb: Presentation of the results of research on the habits of young people on the Internet as part of the “Tools for the Modern Age” project |

Photo: Igor Soban/PIXSELL

Dora Dodig Hundrić from the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation said that the research also measured the excessive use of social networks and video games (more than 3 hours a day), and the results showed that during the week about 40 percent of students use social networks more than three hour a day. 28.5 percent of them use it 3 to 5 hours a day, and 11.7 percent more than five hours a day. About 11 percent play video games excessively during the work week.

On weekends, the length of time spent on digital platforms increases. Thus, 62.3 percent of students spend more than three hours a day on social networks, 34.8 percent for 3 to 5 hours and 27.5 percent for more than five hours. 30 percent of them play video games for more than three hours a day, 18.3 percent for three to five hours and 12.8 percent for more than five hours.

Research has shown that symptoms of addiction to social networks are present in 1.6 percent of children, and in video games in 3 percent of them.

“This means that their psychosocial functioning is seriously impaired,” said Dodig Hundri. She added that research has shown that students with poor academic performance spend more time on social networks or playing video games (5 or more hours).

Zagreb: Presentation of the results of research on the habits of young people on the Internet as part of the project “Tools for the Modern Age” |

Photo: Igor Soban/PIXSELL

The prevalence of current emotional problems in children, which can be the cause and consequence of excessive use of digital technologies, was also investigated. Currently, about 7 percent of students experience serious or extremely serious symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, which are worrying results because it makes children more vulnerable in the virtual environment and indicates the need for further preventive action. .

“Among the respondents, there are no differences in the use of the Internet and risky behaviors, considering the size of the places where the children come from, and this problem equally affects children from all backgrounds,” said Dodig Hundi. She explained that girls use social networks a bit more intensively, and young people play video games more.

When the wordč about the reasons for using the Internet, it turned out that the main motive for children is to connect with others and improve their mood, but the students still to a greater extent estimate that they can establish better relationships in a real environment compared to a virtual one.

“Through 12 weeks of workshops in elementary schools, the program resulted in more responsible online behavior of students, and 50 percent of students who excessively use social networks and video games reduced their use after the end of the program,” said the presentation.