One of the world’s largest studies into after-school habits has found social media use among young people has exploded since COVID, crowding out everything from books and sport to music and art. And what has experts worried is that this shift is sticking.
Researchers from the University of South Australia tracked more than 14,000 students aged 11 to 14 between 2019 and 2022. Their findings paint a stark picture: daily social media use has leapt from 26% to a staggering 85% in just four years. Put another way, the number of kids who aren’t on social media each day has dropped to just 3%.
At the same time, activities long considered the backbone of a healthy childhood have taken a hit. The share of kids who never read for fun has climbed from 11% to 53%. Participation in the arts has fallen off a cliff, with those never taking part rising from 26% to 70%. Even extracurricular music — an activity schools have spent years trying to protect — has seen non-participation jump from 70% to 85%.
These aren’t temporary blips tied to lockdowns. Three years after restrictions lifted, the numbers haven’t bounced back. The researchers say this suggests a deeper cultural shift, where scrolling and messaging have quietly become the default way young Australians spend their downtime.
The trends differ slightly between boys and girls: boys saw the sharper drop in reading, while girls continue to outpace boys in daily social media use.
Interestingly, not every screen-heavy habit has stuck. TV watching, household chores and gaming spiked during the pandemic but have since returned to earlier levels — making social media the clear outlier in this new post-COVID routine.
“There’s no doubt that social media has become deeply embedded in children’s daily lives. But now it’s at the point where it’s replacing many of the activities that support healthy development – like sport, reading, and creative play,” UniSA researcher and PhD candidate Mason Zhou said.
“In this study, we found that children’s participation in music, art, reading for fun, hanging out with friends and playing sports all declined during and after the pandemic.”
Zhou said watching TV and playing electronic games increased significantly during the same period, but both returned to pre-pandemic levels afterwards.
“Social media was the only activity that consistently increased during the pandemic and in the post-pandemic years, showing the largest growth overall,” she said.
“Because these changes happened during a critical stage of adolescence, and because they’ve persisted three years after COVID restrictions ended, they may have lasting impacts on young people’s health and wellbeing – and that’s a real cause for concern.”
Social media ban puts kids’ habits under scrutiny
As Australia prepares to implement a nation-leading restriction on social media access for children under 16, this research provides an essential baseline for evaluating how such interventions affect young people’s after-school activity patterns.
Co-researcher Professor Dot Dumuid says we need more programs and policies that encourage young people to re-engage in enriching activities such as sport, music, arts and reading.
“If we want to support young people’s wellbeing, we need to help them rebalance their time – encouraging them to reconnect with real-world activities that build skills, confidence and social connection,” Professor Dumuid says.
“Children who participate in sports, arts and other extra-curricular activities generally have better academic outcomes, stronger self-identity, improved social skills and better mental health.”
Professor Dumuid said while these activities help kids form friendships, stretch their boundaries and acquire new skills, they could be at developmental risk if social media dominates their time.
“The pending social media bans are certainly an intervention aimed at protecting children,” she said.
“When access is restricted, children may shift to alternative platforms like gaming, messaging apps or TV. Tracking these behavioural shifts and examining their short- and long-term impacts on young people’s health and wellbeing will be important as we move beyond the ban.”