A recent Cabinet Office survey found that today's Japanese youngsters are spending more time on their mobile and smartphones than ever before. According to the survey, nearly 60 percent of children aged 10 to 17 have mobile phones or smartphones and use them to browse the Internet more than ever before. Over one-third of primary school children, over half of middle- school students and an astonishing 97.2 percent of high school students own mobile or smartphones.

Of course, students do not just own the phones; they use them. The total time spent on the Internet with mobile or smartphones on a weekday was a startling 107.4 minutes a day, on average, a 50 percent increase from the 2010 survey. Smart phone using students spent even more time on the Internet, 132.6 minutes a day on average. Mobile and smartphones are taking up a much larger part of young people's lives than ever before.

Clearly, students are spending more time fiddling with new apps, playing online games, and sending messages on social networking sites. Surely some educational apps may help students learn, and social interaction is essential to development and students need time to just play. However, two hours spent on the Internet is two hours not spent reading a book, engaging in sports, talking face to face or enjoying the outdoors.