Immigrate to Ireland Focus on Irish Immigration Education: The National Children's Bureau in Northern Ireland tracked 611 students aged 14 to 16 in Northern Ireland between 2012 and 2014. The survey results indicate that students who play video games twice a day struggle to achieve high marks in five GCSE subjects. Compared to the 77% of students who rarely play games during the week, 41% of students who own handheld consoles and play games at least twice a day will achieve 5 grades from A to C in their GCSE exams.
This long-term survey aims to explore the impact of student use of electronic communication devices on GCSE results. The survey shows that 81% of young students spend several hours a day on social media, but no correlation was found between this and student exam results, indicating that student use of online social media has no significant association with GCSE performance.
The survey also revealed the following findings:
• Young students spend a significant amount of their time online every day. Two-fifths of students spend 4 hours or more online daily while pursuing their GCSE courses.
• 43% of students spend most of their time online on entertainment activities, spending less than 1 hour on homework.
• Students who spend 3 hours a day on the computer doing homework have excellent GCSE results, with 79% of them achieving 5 grades from A to C in their GCSE exams.
• Either excessive or insufficient use of electronic devices for homework affects students. Those who spend no time or more than 3 hours have less than ideal performance, with only 57% of students achieving 5 grades from A to C in their GCSE exams.
• Use of mobile phones and tablets is unrelated to GCSE results.
• Teachers and parents are particularly concerned about online safety, but 72% of students believe they are safe while online.
The survey suggests that the government introduce a targeted policy to ensure that all young people have access to a desktop or laptop computer at home, and also advises parents or guardians to limit students' online gaming.
The survey also recommends initiating another study to investigate why individuals who spend more time on games perform poorly in school. Celine McStravick, Director of the National Children's Bureau in Northern Ireland, stated: “Research shows that using a computer to do homework can help students consolidate knowledge and achieve better exam results. Therefore, schools should set regular homework that requires students to go online to complete. It is also necessary for parents and guardians to limit the time students spend on gaming.”