South Korean high school students spend an average of six hours daily on smartphones during weekdays, excluding school PC usage, with 86% acknowledging some form of addiction.
High Smartphone Penetration Among Students
Recent data from a survey of 1,200 first-year high schoolers reveals that 97.7% own smartphones. Only 0.6% rely on feature phones, while 38.4% use other digital devices, and 0.3% have no digital gadgets at all.
Daily Usage Patterns
Weekday smartphone usage averages 6.02 hours, surpassing the 6 hours and 42 minutes total screen time—which accounts for 35% of students’ active hours. Male students log 6.2 hours, compared to 5.84 hours for females.
Females dedicate more time to social media platforms like KakaoTalk and Instagram (1.65 hours), while males prefer gaming (1.62 hours).
Concerns Over Addiction
Students express worries about poor sleep, concentration issues, and excessive immersion linked to smartphone use. In a poll, 86.3% identified as “daily addicts,” 12.5% as “immersive addicts,” and 1.2% as holding addiction concerns.
Parents differ in views: 36.7% see their children as “worry addicts,” 8.7% as “immersive addicts,” with 54.6% opting for “daily addicts.”
Expert Recommendations
Researchers from the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education highlight a significant gap between students’ self-perceived addiction levels and guardians’ assessments. “A substantial disparity exists between children’s self-recognized addiction and guardians’ related perceptions,” they noted. “Accurate diagnosis and effective interventions for addiction and over-reliance require considering both perspectives to bridge this divide.”
