Ohio: Study reveals tech usage does not negatively impact a millennial's social skills

A recent study has reportedly revealed that excessive screen time has little impact on millennials and they might be just as socially skilled and informed as the older population. Published in the American Journal of Sociology in Ohio, the research has proved that the adults and the new-media generation were rated similarly in interpersonal skills and self-control, such as the ability to regulate their temper. 

Researchers from the Ohio State University concluded these findings based on the mental evaluation of individuals who started kindergarten six years before Facebook launched in 1998, and data of those who began schooling in the year 2010, the iPad generation. Individuals portrayed the similarities in being able to form social connect and get along with each other, according to the research.

"In virtually every comparison we made, either social skills stayed the same or actually went up modestly for the children born later," said Douglas Downey, lead author of the study and professor of sociology at The Ohio State University. “In other words, the kids are still all right,” he added. "There's very little evidence that screen exposure was problematic for the growth of social skills," he was quoted as saying. 

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Similar behavioural patterns persisted

Several years ago, Downey reportedly had an argument with his son, Nick, about whether the youth had degenerated in their social skills. As a result of which, he conducted research along with an associate professor of sociology at Brigham Young University named Benjamin Gibbs. The duo employed the data from The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a centre functional under the National Centre for Educational Statistics that kept a record of the children from kindergarten to grade five. The behavioural data of at least 19,150 students from 1998 was reportedly studied against 13,400 students that commenced school in 2010.  

There was a five-time assessment until fifth grade done by the teaching staff, while parents monitored the behaviour one time each at the beginning of the kindergarten and the end of grade five, according to the study. The findings disclosed that the social skills did not decline between the 1998 and 2010 groups, while similar behavioural patterns persisted as the children progressed to fifth grade, according to the study. 

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