Online addicts' grades suffer

IF YOU think that spending too much time on the computer is bad for your grades - well, it is.

An American study by Ohio University has found that college students who used Facebook spent less time studying and scored lower grades than those who were not busy 'poking' their friends online.

Facebook users in the study of 219 undergraduates had grade point averages (GPAs) of between 3 and 3.5, while non-users had GPAs of between 3.5 and 4.


In Singapore, a Straits Times survey of 653 youths also found that those who admitted they were addicted to computer games generally did worse in school than those who said they were not addicted.

The poll, executed by online entertainment company Sulake, questioned teens between the ages of 12 and 18 on youth networking site Habbo Hotel.

Of those who were not addicted, 59 per cent said they scored mostly As and Bs, while 6 per cent scored mostly Cs and Ds and below. For addicts, 50 per cent scored mostly As and Bs while 14 per cent ended up with Cs and Ds and below.