Decline in Children’s Academic Performance: Digital Devices are Having a Significant Impact

Editorial

16:38 JST, August 29, 2025

A survey by the central government has revealed a significant decline in children’s academic performance. Increased time spent on smartphones and playing games is seen as one contributing factor. It is hoped that society as a whole will share a sense of urgency and consider measures to address this issue.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry has released the results of the comparative analytical survey of children’s academic performance conducted in the 2024 school year. The survey covered 1,350 schools nationwide and examined the performance of sixth-grade elementary school students in Japanese language and arithmetic and third-year junior high school students in Japanese language, mathematics and English.

Average scores declined across all of the subjects compared to the previous survey conducted in the 2021 school year. In every subject except for mathematics for third-year junior high school students, the average score was down by at least 10 points. The most significant decline was in English, which dropped by 22.9 points. Given that the academic performance of Japanese children had been stable at a high level, it must be said that the results are grave.

The ministry intends to commission researchers to break down the detailed causes, but many experts are already pointing to the impact of the insufficient time and quality of classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For third-year junior high school students, with their significantly lower English scores, their opportunities to converse in classes were limited when they were beginning to learn the language in a full-fledged manner. For sixth-grade elementary school students, their school life was forced to be significantly restricted, including through school closures when their studies began in earnest.

However, that cannot be all. The impact of increased time spent on smartphones and playing games cannot be overlooked.

A survey of parents and guardians found the average weekday amount of time spent using smartphones was 1 hour and 5 minutes for sixth-grade elementary school students and 1 hour and 56 minutes for third-year junior high school students. Both figures were about 20 minutes higher than in the previous survey, while study time decreased. Time spent playing video games similarly increased.

Restrictions on going out during the pandemic likely led many children to use digital devices for longer spells, and it became habitual.

The government completed its distribution of one learning device per student to nearly all students during the 2020 school year. A thorough examination of the relationship between the digitalization of education and declining academic performance is also essential.

The survey showed a trend in which scores declined when daily smartphone usage exceeded one hour. Results also found that the longer parents used smartphones, the longer their children used them. It is vital for each household to decide their own rules for how smartphones are treated.

Attention should also be paid to the finding that children from households with fewer books experienced a greater decline in academic performance. Looking at the scores in Japanese language for sixth-grade elementary school students, the drop was nearly double for those from households with “0 to 25 books” compared to those with “101 or more books.”

The number of books in a home is seen as an indicator representing one’s socioeconomic background, such as parents’ incomes and educational background. How to support children from economically disadvantaged families is an important challenge that society as a whole should consider.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 29, 2025)