Kids consuming nearly 8 hours of media per day, study says
Photo by Flickr user Jennie Faber
"The average kid sponges in 2.5 hours of music each day, almost five hours of TV and movies, three hours of Internet and video games, and just 38 minutes of old-fashioned reading, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.That adds up to 75 hours of media every week. And that doesn't even include the hour and a half spent text messaging each day, and the half hour kids talk on the cell phone."
And what sort of effect does this have on children?
From an article on PCMag.com:
What the survey found was that heavy media users not only self-reported lower grades then self-described "light" users, but that they also reported being less happy as well. For example, 51 percent of heavy media users reported that they received A's and B's in school, compared to 66 percent of light users. Thirty-two percent of heavy media users reported that they were often sad or unhappy, versus 22 percent of light media users. Not surprisingly, those that lived in households where parents attempted to limit media consumption consumed less media.
My kids aren't in this age bracket; they're 6 and 3. We do limit their screen time — those AAP guidelines are still fresh in my mind from their toddler years.
But with the addition of a Wii to our household, our restrictions have become more difficult to enforce. An hour spent on the Wii means no TV or computer that day, and that's a hard concept for a three-year-old to understand. Lots of screaming and crying usually ensues, and on my weak days I sometimes cave.
This study is a good reminder to hold my ground.
What do you think? Do you limit your child's access to media? Leave a comment, or take the poll!
Comments
sh1
Sat, Jan 23, 2010 : 9:44 a.m.
I'm amazed at the number of kids who have TVs in their rooms. TVs make bad babysitters.
crawdaddy11
Fri, Jan 22, 2010 : 10:01 a.m.
Exactly. The piece of this pie that is shrinking is SLEEP. Kids are staying up later cosuming media - and losing sleep in the process. Parents should take the phone/computer/gameboy away and make your kids sleep.
48104
Thu, Jan 21, 2010 : 6:02 p.m.
Atticus, you're showing your age! They are consuming media on the school bus or in the family car with their Gameboys and their smartphones. You don't need to sit in front of a TV or computer -- you can lie in bed and watch YouTube videos on your iPod Touch half the night.
theodynus
Thu, Jan 21, 2010 : 4:30 p.m.
I'm at a computer consuming media more than any of those kids, if you count my time at work. I'd be a hypocrite to blindly lump all media consumption into one pot and limit my kid to 2 hours of it. Isn't it at least possible that kids today are getting huge benefits from getting away from paper books that don't offer anything but long, linear, non-interactive stories? What the heck do they learn from a stick or a rock or a river that they can't read on wikipedia? Did nature ever write a lolcat? It blows me away that kids have all of humanity and all of recorded history right at their fingertips and parents think this is somehow a terrible thing. The 13 year who was interested in Javanese puppets used to think he was alone in the world, but today he can find a community of Javanese puppetmasters with a quick Google search. Don't go outside, kids! The best stuff is right here! Meatspace is for suckers!
Maple
Thu, Jan 21, 2010 : 4:06 p.m.
Maybe the study arrived at the average when media time during the summer was included? All I know for sure is that I am justified in severely restricting my kids' access to any kind of screen/media time. I have attempted to apply some Waldorf principles in my home and have emphasized a strong connection to the natural world. Yet my kids have still managed to teach themselves how to work (not chat or waste time, mind you... WORK) on a computer, so they are certainly not behind civilization and I don't recall any studies or assertions that too much time with trees and grass had any deleterious effect on child development.
wacky_walrus
Thu, Jan 21, 2010 : 2:46 p.m.
I don't see any indication in the AA.com article, nor the original on PCMag.com, that the study's authors were attempting to prove causality.
Atticus F.
Thu, Jan 21, 2010 : 2:45 p.m.
I dont believe some of these "studies". If you figure in sleep and school, this study suggest that the average child doesn't leave the house, take a shower, or eat dinner or lunch because they are parked in front of the TV from the time they get home from school til the time they go to bed.