How does the amount of time students spend on digital devices for leisure relate to their overall development? To understand this, we look at overall student development in terms of the amount of time spent on digital leisure (low, moderate and excessive use before or after school1) and the trade-offs students make with time spent on homework (low, moderate and high2). Within each of the nine clusters, key dimensions in overall student development are explored in the report’s previous sections: academic performance, sense of belonging at school, digital anxiety and life satisfaction (see Figure 5.1). We also look at the trade-offs with physical activity outside of school (see Figure 5.2). This analysis indicates that in a world where adolescents’ social interactions and recreation take place mostly online, improving students’ holistic development requires a nuanced approach to digital leisure regulation. When balanced with other activities outside of school, a moderate amount of digital leisure time with moderate time on homework is associated with good outcomes.
Finite time to learn and play
Students who balance a moderate use of digital devices for leisure with a moderate time spent on homework have higher academic and well-being outcomes than their peers
A moderate amount of digital leisure time, when combined with a moderate time spent on homework, is key to students’ having strong academic performance and sense of well-being at school, combined with relatively high overall life satisfaction (see Figure 5.1 C5). When students spend moderate time on homework and little time on digital leisure (see Figure 5.1 C4), their overall life satisfaction is relatively high compared to other students, but their mathematics performance is lower than that of students who spend a moderate time on digital leisure.
On the other hand, those who spend a moderate time on homework but an excessive amount of digital leisure time have a relatively high mathematics performance. However, their overall life satisfaction is lower than that of their peers with more moderate use of digital devices for leisure (see Figure 5.1 C6). As discussed below, a possible explanation of these results is that as time outside of school is finite, students who spend excessive time on digital devices for leisure outside of school while devoting moderate time to learning, do not have any time left for other activities that are essential to their well-being such as sports (see Figure 5.2), socialising with friends and spending quality time with family. The excessive digital leisure may also crowd-out sleeping time, which is essential for students’ health and their well-being.
Based on students' reports; OECD average
Note: A student who spend low (high) time in homework or limited (excessive) time on digital devices for leisure is a student in the bottom (top) quarter of the time distribution in his or her own country/economy.
Source: OECD, PISA 2022 Database, Tables 5.1 and 5.2.
As 15-year-old students’ time outside of school is limited, those who spend an excessive time on digital leisure have little time to dedicate to physical exercise outside of school, particularly if they strive to spend at least a moderate amount of time on homework (see Figure 5.2). At the extreme, those spending an excessive amount of time on digital leisure activities and a high amount of time on homework, exercise one time less before or after school in a week as those who spend moderate time on both digital leisure and homework (see Figure 5.2). This is problematic as regular physical exercise is key for teenagers’ healthy development and their well-being, and may contribute to their lower overall life satisfaction, sense of belonging at school and high digital anxiety compared to students with more well-rounded use of time outside of school (see Figure 5.1).
Based on students' reports; OECD average
Note: A student who spend low (high) time in homework or limited (excessive) time on digital devices for leisure is a student in the bottom (top) quarter of the time distribution in his or her own country/economy.
Source: OECD, PISA 2022 Database, Table 5.2.
PISA 2022 findings provide three pointers for policymakers on regulating teenagers’ digital recreation time:
Pointer for policy and practice 1: Provide guidance to students and families on strategies to regulate the time spent on digital leisure activities outside of school.
Unlike spending time on digital devices for leisure at school, which is associated with lower learning performance and sense of belonging (see PISA 2022, Volume II, Box II.5.1), spending a moderate time on digital leisure outside of school relates to higher mathematics scores and sense of belonging at school. Students who spend a moderate amount of time on digital leisure outside of school have stronger academic performance, a greater sense of belonging in school and more involvement with learning and schooling than students who either spend an excessive amount of time or limited time on digital leisure activities. Thus, policy initiatives or interventions that discourage students from spending an excessive amount of time on digital leisure may yield better outcomes at school and academic engagement than outright bans on digital leisure activities. It may help break the vicious circle between digital distraction and disengagement from learning and schooling. It may also help adolescents adopt healthier habits when engaging with digital devices in order to reduce overall digital anxiety.
Pointer for policy and practice 2: Provide additional support and tools to students from disadvantaged households to access varied and enriching leisure activities.
Disadvantaged students are more likely to either be excluded from recreational leisure activities outside of school or to spend an extreme amount of time on digital leisure activities outside of school. In both cases, their academic performance and sense of belonging at school are lower than those of students who spend a moderate amount on digital leisure activities. Additionally, those who spend an excessive amount of time on digital leisure are less engaged in learning and schooling. It is therefore important to ensure that disadvantaged students have access to some digital recreational activities, but also to educate and provide tools to students and parents to regulate the time spent on recreational leisure activities. One other possible area for support is in ensuring access to offline organised leisure activities, such as sports clubs, or art and music classes, which can be an alternative to the excessive time spent on digital leisure activities.
Pointer for policy and practice 3: Support and stimulate participation in offline leisure activities outside school such as sports, music, and arts, which are important for students physical and mental well-being
Fifteen-year-olds spend a high share of their time outside of school on digital leisure activities. When students spend too much time on digital recreation, trade-offs happen. Time is taken away from homework, sports and exercise, and doing creative activities. Excess digital recreation time deprives students from opportunities to learn and develop through all these offline activities. Helping 15-year-olds better regulate their digital recreation time frees them up to learn more and feel better in school and in their lives. In addition to freeing up fifteen-year-olds time, it is important to ensure access to extra -curricular activities, in particular for students from socio-economically disadvantaged households.
Further investigate the relationship between moderate use of digital leisure outside of school and well-being.
Unlike digital leisure use at school, spending a moderate amount of time on digital leisure outside of school (between two and four hours a day on average across OECD countries) does not directly relate to a lower sense of belonging at school. On the contrary, moderate users of digital devices outside of school tend to have a stronger sense of belonging at school than those who spend less or more time. This may indicate that digital leisure, when it does not interfere with learning time, could play a positive role in students’ socialisation at school up to a certain point. Such results may benefit from further investigation to understand the mechanisms behind the relationship between digital leisure outside of school and well-being at school. On the other hand, as digital leisure time increases, overall life satisfaction decreases. Thus, more evidence is needed to understand the relationship between time spent on digital leisure and people’s mental health and long-term cognitive development.
Further investigate the relationship between anxiety and digital leisure time
PISA evidence shows that students who report limited or no use at all of digital devices for leisure outside of school also suffer from digital anxiety when they do not have their devices near them. The share of students suffering from digital anxiety among these students is higher than the share of digitally anxious students among moderate users of digital leisure outside of school (even though their numbers is smaller in absolute term). Further investigation is needed to understand the reason why non or limited users of digital devices for leisure suffer from digital anxiety. One possible hypothesis to be explored include external control of digital leisure time (e.g. parents forbidding access to digital leisure activities when the students are addicted). Better understanding the mechanism leading to digital addiction and anxiety is important to propose adequate policy solutions.
Further investigate the relationship between digital leisure at school and learning and well-being outcomes at school
While this paper has focused on students’ digital leisure time outside of school, PISA also explore questions related to students’ digital leisure at school ( (OECD, 2023[11])). In particular, PISA 2022 shows a negative relationship between students’ digital leisure and mathematic performance on the one hand and with sense of belonging at school on the other, for more than one hour of use at school (OECD, 2023[11]) .Further investigation of the PISA evidence and other sources are needed to better understand the negative relationship between digital leisure at school and learning and well-being outcomes.
← 1. In the cluster analysis in section 5, the categories of digital leisure use intensity are defined by national quartiles. The low digital leisure use corresponds to the 25% of students with the lowest average time on digital devices for leisure before or after school. The moderate digital leisure use corresponds to the second and third quartile of the national distribution of average time spent on digital devices for leisure before or after school. The excessive use category corresponds to the 25% highest average time on digital leisure before or after school.
← 2. In the cluster analysis in section 5, the categories of homework intensity are defined by national quartiles. The low homework time corresponds to the 25% of students with the lowest reported homework time. The moderate digital leisure use corresponds to the second and third quartile of the national distribution of homework time. The high homework time corresponds to the 25% highest homework time.