Social media, games top uses of internet among Taiwanese students: Survey

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) Over 85 percent of Taiwanese senior high school students use social media, while phone and computer games were the most popular use of the internet for students at lower levels, according to a survey released Monday.

The survey, commissioned by the Ministry of Education and conducted in March-April 2023 by National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University's Research Center of Humanities and Social Sciences, was based on 4,937 responses from students in elementary school grades 4-6, junior high school (grades 7-9) and senior high school (grades 10-12).

It found that 59.7 percent of elementary school students had their own smartphone, compared to 87 percent of junior high students, and 91.8 percent of senior high school students.

According to the survey, 46.5 percent, 49 percent and 57.2 percent of students at those levels, respectively, also reported having a tablet or laptop computer.

In terms of how they used the internet, the most common response among elementary and junior high school students -- at 79.7 percent and 77.6 percent, respectively -- was for "playing games." The most common response for senior high school students, at 85.6 percent, was "social media."

Meanwhile, 61.1 percent of elementary school students, 60 percent of junior high students, and 70.8 percent of senior high school students said they used the internet for educational purposes, such as searching for information or instructional videos, at least once a week.

Asked when they first began using the internet, the most common response among students at all levels was in the third or fourth grade, according to the survey.

In response to the survey results, the Ministry of Education noted that it had developed a program in 2019 to promote media and digital literacy education for elementary and junior high school students.

The program -- a subsidized three-year pilot version of which was launched at 18 schools in 2022 -- aims to help young students evaluate sources of information, develop healthy social media habits and avoid online fraud and bullying, the ministry said.

The government has also published a Parent Digital Learning Guide as a resource for students' parents or caregivers, with information on how to optimize digital learning and help kids avoid risks such as internet addiction and distraction, the ministry said.