Wednesday September 10

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Current parenting and educational trends often prioritize structured, adult-supervised activities in an attempt to optimize children’s educational outcomes. This often comes at the expense of unstructured leisure time spent with peers, which is frequently perceived as riskier and less productive — a perspective that’s echoed in much of the research on digital media use.

“The dominant view suggests that, outside of explicitly educational activities, screen time is detrimental to academic achievement,” said Gabriel E. Hales, a media and information doctoral candidate in the Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

New research from Hales and Keith N. Hampton, professor of media and information at MSU, challenges the assumption that unstructured time spent on digital media is inherently harmful or unproductive. The study, published in the journal Information, Communication and Society, reveals an indirect positive relationship between digital media and academic achievement, measured through SAT scores in a sample of 2,582 students in grades 8–11.

“Time spent on social media and other digital activities, such as video games, contributed substantially to digital skills. These skills were strong predictors of performance across academic domains,” said Hampton, who is also director of research at the MSU Quello Center, which focuses on the social and economic implications of communication, media and information technologies of the digital age, as well as the policy and management issues raised by these developments.

Hampton and Hales did find a small, direct negative relationship between social media use and achievement for girls. However, this relationship was not that different from the effects of time spent hanging out in-person with friends and academic achievement. Unlike time spent in-person, socializing and playing online builds digital skills. The benefits gained through digital skill development outweigh the negative effects of social media use.

The study’s findings highlighted a significant gender gap: Boys experience substantially larger benefits when considering the relationship between unstructured digital media use, digital skills and academic achievement. The indirect benefit of digital skills had a larger benefit for boys in reading, writing, and math.

“While some existing gender differences in academic achievement, such as girls’ advantage in reading and writing, were smaller as a result of unstructured time spent on digital media, others, mainly boys’ stronger performance in math persisted” said Hales.

Both Hales and Hampton emphasize that while unstructured digital media use can help narrow the gap between girls’ and boys’ reading and writing achievement, it may deepen disparities in math. Boys tend to engage in a broader range of online activities, including social media and more video game play, which contribute to more digital skills and higher performance across academic domains. Socializing and playing online can help boys catch up to girls in reading and writing but it may not help eliminate gender differences in math scores.

“This could perpetuate broad inequalities, such as the underrepresentation of women and STEM careers,” said Hampton. “Some have proposed that reducing gender stereotypes around gaming could encourage participation and contribute to math-related skill development among girls, but there are still uncertainties around that idea.” 

-courtesy story

Proposals accepted through Nov. 1

LANSING, Mich. - Michigan’s Invasive Species Grant Program is now accepting proposals for the 2025 funding cycle, with an anticipated $3.6 million available to applicants. The program – a joint effort of the Michigan departments of Natural Resources; Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; and Agriculture and Rural Development – is a statewide initiative launched in 2014 to help prevent, detect and control invasive species in Michigan.

Invasive species are those that are not native and whose introduction causes harm to Michigan’s economy, environment or human health.

“Michigan is home to some truly world-class outdoor recreation opportunities," said DNR Director Scott Bowen. "Unchecked, invasive species pose serious threats to those resources and the outdoor economy. Michigan's Invasive Species Grant Program is a valuable tool that allows us to work with community partners around the state to better fight and contain these land and water pests."

Program handbook, webinar

The 2025 grant program handbook outlines program priorities and application guidelines. Applicants also can take advantage of a webinar Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 2 p.m. to learn more about general grant information, the application process and 2025 priorities.

Both the handbook and webinar registration information are available at Michigan.gov/MISGP. A recorded version of the webinar will be available on that webpage after Sept. 9.

2025 priorities

This year, the program is seeking proposals for projects to address the following priorities:

• Improving public adoption of decontamination practices like cleaning recreation equipment between uses or purchasing local firewood.
• Detecting and responding to watch list species in high-risk areas.
• Improving understanding of and developing response plans for watch list species or others that may pose future risks to Michigan.
• Implementing and evaluating control projects for high-priority invasive species.
• Finding innovative and efficient control methods.
• Increasing biological and ecological understanding of invasive species to improve detection and control.
• Developing or improving risk assessments, best control practices and other resources to inform management decisions.
• Supporting Michigan’s 22 cooperative invasive species management areas, or CISMAs, in implementing strategic plans for outreach, detection and control of regional priority species.

Applicants should review the full list of priorities provided in the MISGP Handbook and communicate with technical contacts if questions arise.

Program progress

The Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program supports projects throughout the state that prevent, detect, manage and eradicate invasive species on the ground and in the water. Total program funding is set by the Legislature and the governor during the annual budget cycle.

Since its inception, the program has awarded over $40 million to 301 projects, resulting in increased education, identification and management of invasive species including hemlock woolly adelgid insects, Eurasian watermilfoil plants and mile-a-minute weed.

Because of this program, more than 678,000 acres of land and water have been surveyed and approximately 56,000 acres have been treated for invasive species.

Highlights of the 2024 invasive species program are available in the Michigan Invasive Species Program Annual Report, which includes program-funded projects.

Regional CISMAs operate in all of Michigan’s 83 counties, assisting the public in identifying and managing invasive species. Contact information for individual CISMAs can be found at Michigan.gov/Invasives in the Take Action section.

Important program dates and information

Local, state, federal and tribal units of government, nonprofit organizations and universities may apply for funding to support invasive species projects in Michigan. Full project proposals are due Nov.1. The awards announcement is anticipated in March 2026. Grant requests for general projects can range from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $400,000. CISMAs can request up to $70,000 for annual implementation of prevention, detection and control activities and up to $40,000 for specific outreach and/or survey and treatment projects. There are no match requirements for the program, and match documentation will not be accepted as part of the application.

Competitive applications will outline clear objectives, propose significant ecological benefits, demonstrate diverse collaboration and show strong community support.

All applications must be submitted through the MiGrants online system. Applicants can access the system at MiGrants.Intelligrants.com or follow the link at Michigan.gov/MISGP.

-courtesy story