Rethinking screen time and academic achievement: gender differences and the hidden benefit of online leisure through digital skills

Concerns about the detrimental effects of screen time on adolescents’ academic achievement are widespread. However, this perspective often overlooks the potential educational benefits of online leisure time, and gender differences in online and offline activities. We examine the relationship between digital media use (social media, video games, etc.), digital skills, and standardized test scores (SAT) in a sample of 2,582 students in grades 8-11. Using path analysis, we find a compensatory mechanism. Like unstructured time spent in-person with peers, time spent on social media has a small, negative, direct relationship to academic achievement. However, unlike time spent in-person, digital activities offset the small, negative relationship to achievement with a larger, positive, indirect relationship through digital skills. Notably, boys benefit more than girls in reading and writing from unstructured digital media use, with little difference in math. This potentially mitigates some gender-based achievement gaps. Gender differences are tied to media preferences and the relationship between different digital activities and different digital skills. These findings challenge the simplistic view that unstructured leisure time spent on digital media is inherently harmful or unproductive. We underscore the need for shifts in policy and parenting practices to recognize the benefits of casual leisure and unstructured time with peers, both online and offline, for learning and development.