Kids are dropping sport, reading, music, and the arts as social media use soars, prompting concerns about their development.

New research from the University of South Australia found that social media use among children and teens had risen by more than 200 per cent since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers tracked more than 14,000 South Australian students aged 11 to 14 from 2019 to 2022.

Over the four-year period, the number of young people who used social media daily jumped from 26 per cent to 85 per cent.

This correlated with an increase of the proportion of children who never read for fun from 11 per cent to 53 per cent.

The amount of young people who never took part in arts activities rose from 26 per cent to 70 per cent.

The proportion of students who never di

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