Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Daily Media Use Among Children and Teens Rises Dramatically


Media use by children and teens (ages 8-18) is up an hour and seventeen minutes from what it used to be 5 years ago, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation study released today. And that doesn't include texting!

This study also reveals other astonishing stats:

1. Only about 3 in 10 young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend- watching TV, playing video games, or using the computer.
2. 64% of young people say the TV is usually on during meals.
3. 71% have a TV in their bedroom.
4. 50% have video games console in their bedroom.
5. 47% of heavy media users usually get poor grades (mostly Cs and lower) while only 23% of light media users get poor grades.
6. 7th-12th graders spend an average of 1 hour and 35 minutes texting each day.
7. Because children can "media multitask", the 7+ hours a day they spend on media are equivalent to 10 hours and forty five minutes.

“The bottom line is that all these advances in media technologies are making it even easier for young people to spend more and more time with media,” said Victoria Rideout, Foundation Vice President and director of the study. “It’s more important than ever that researchers, policymakers and parents stay on top of the impact it’s having on their lives.”

Take a minute to check out this study and assess how your family's media habits are affecting your children.

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