While some parents worry that the use of electronic gadgets may hinder their kids’ social skills, scientists say there is nothing to worry about: Modern kids are just as good in making friends and navigating peer relationships.

Research: Social skills of kids are not hindered by technology

Scientists from Ohio State University confirmed that social skills of kids aren’t impacted by their use of electronic gadgets. Smartphones and social media don’t impede the development of the children’s ability to socialize, as was suggested previously.

The measuring of sociability done in 1998 and 2010 among kindergarten-aged children was on par, researchers state.

Their interpersonal skills were of similar levels: They could become friends with others just as efficiently.

Professor of sociology Douglas Downey who is the lead author of the research pointed out that this was the evidence of children developing sufficient social skills in the age of Internet and social media.

Even more, on some of the measurements kids evaluated in 2010 scored slightly better. Downey stated there was not much evidence at all that exposure to computers and smartphones at early ages was damaging for sociability.

The idea for the research came from a fight the professor had with his son. Initially, Downey was of the opinion that the modern generation had terrible social skills and he thought that gadgets were to blame. His son asked about the source of such opinions and the professor started looking for evidence, and couldn’t find any.

This why the scholars set to check whether the idea of children’s social skills getting lower because of electronics was true. They discovered it wasn’t.

Use of technology doesn’t make kids asocial

The long term study that monitored kids from the kindergarten to grade 5, managed by the National Centre for Educational Statistics, had sufficient amount of data to analyse. Two cohorts were compared; the first hard over 19,000 students (entered kindergarten in 1998) and the second cohort has over 13,000 students (2010).

Teachers had assessed kids abilities 6 times during the period of monitoring. The parents also gave their assessments at the start and end of the kindergarten and after completion of Grade 1.

According to teachers, social skills of both groups didn’t differ much. The kids who started kindergarten in 2010 weren’t less socially adept as compared to 1998 cohort.

Even within the groups, kids who used technology for the longest periods of time had shown similar results to the ones who used it the least.

There was a slight drop in social skills of kids who used gaming sites and social media several times a day, but it wasn’t major.

Thus, the researchers concluded that ideas of children being asocial due to the use of technology was just an “old wives tale”. There is no need to panic, according to the study results.

New generations are able to be skilful in communication both online and offline, Downey pointed out. Digital social skills are just as important, the researcher believes.

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