Social media is hurting kids’ memory, vocabulary: study

It might finally be time to set those parental controls.

New research suggests that social media isn’t just feeding your kid the latest memes — it may actually be messing with their brainpower.

The study out of UC San Francisco found that children who spend more time on the apps scored lower on reading, vocabulary and memory tests. And the longer they scrolled, the more their performance slipped.

Researchers dug into data of more than 6,000 children, ages 9 to 11, who are part of the long-running Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, which tracks social media use among other factors.

The kids were split into three groups based on how their social media habits evolved over time.

One group used little or no social media. The second started with low use but reached about an hour a day by the time they turned 13. The third was spending three or more hours a day on the sites by that age.

Each group took a series of cognitive tests at the start of the ABCD study and again in early adolescence.

The researchers found that kids who spent about an hour a day on social media scored one or two points lower on reading and memory tests compared to those who didn’t scroll at all. Those glued to the apps for three or more hours scored up to five points lower.

“It is interesting to note that both the low and the high social media use populations had this poor academic performance,” Dr. Sanjeev Kothare, director of pediatric neurology at Northwell Health’s Cohen Children’s Medical Center, who was not involved in the research, told The Post.

He suspects the issue is twofold: Kids might be using social media during class, cutting into their focus — or staying up too late scrolling, leaving them sleep-deprived and sluggish the next day.

And it’s not just about screen time. The study found that the effects were specific to social media.

Kothare explained that general screen time, like watching TV, is more passive. While it still requires attention, it allows for multitasking.

“You could be doing two things at the same time, keeping one eye and ear on the screen and doing something else,” he said.

But social media is a different story.

“It’s much more active,” Kothare said, noting that kids are directly engaging with content, which demands more attention from the brain.

As a result, he added, “it doesn’t have enough cognitive or memory remaining to focus on scholastic performance.”

“So, overall, it is detrimental for these adolescents to be involved in social media,” Kothare said. “They should do more constructive things for their academic and school performance during school hours and also, if possible, after hours.”

The benefits of logging off social media may extend well beyond academics.

In 2023, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory warning that social media could harm the mental health of children and teens.

The report notes that heavy use may impact brain areas linked to emotion, perhaps affecting impulse control and social behavior — while also potentially increasing the risk of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem.

As concerns mount, a growing number of schools across the country are stepping up efforts to limit tech in the classroom.

This year, New York rolled out a statewide “bell-to-bell” smartphone ban, which covers all of the K-12 public and charter schools across the city.

Though controversial, the policy appears to be paying off. One instructor told The Post it’s “the best thing that’s happened for schools and for the students.”

Now, experts like Kothare are urging parents to join the effort at home by setting limits on kids’ social media use outside of school hours.

“The golden carrot approach of positive feedback for good behavior always works,” he said. “Give them an incentive to be less involved with social media and more paying attention to academia by giving them rewards on the weekend.”

That could mean letting them watch a movie, giving them extra sports time or offering a favorite meal, he suggested.

“I think positive reinforcement for good behavior would be the way to get these kids to agree to be away from the social media,” Kothare said.