That’s more time than teens typically spend sleeping, and more time than they spend with their parents and teachers.
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Most of the time that young people spend consuming media in on a few type of screen.
Common Sense Media has released a comprehensive study called “The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens”, which examined how young Americans use media today.
Many people are seen constantly on their phones, watching videos, checking their Facebook feed, but we never count the actual time we’re focused on media.
The research was carried out by Common Sense Media, a non-profit organisation that aims to help parents and children successfully navigate the world of technology and media.
No. 1: What’s wrong with multitasking? A quarter of teens who go online say their parents know very little about what they do; 30 percent say the same about social media use.
For many parents, the amount of time kids are spending watching video, listening to music, texting and posting may not be a surprise.
While that figure seems outrageous, it’s a bit more palatable when you break it down and read the entire study.
“It’s completely obvious that you can’t multitask and be as effective and competent”.
There are definite gender differences when it comes to media habits of teens and tweens. Instead, they text and use social media while working, the survey found. Half of teens say they “often” or “sometimes” use social media or watch TV while doing their homework, whereas 60 percent say they text and more than 75 percent say they listen to music while completeing class assignments. They account for 43% of time spent watching online media.
They could also use several media at once, the authors said, explaining that this usage was added up as separate instances of screen time, rather than one instance. Only 54% of teens in households making less than $35,000 a year have a laptop in their home versus 92% of teens in households making $100,000 a year or more.
According to the study, two-thirds of teenagers said they listen to music every day, while 58 percent said they watched television each day and only 45 percent reported using social media every day.
But there is a definite upward trend, said Steyer, and media use is getting more and more ubiquitous. “I literally feel like I’m going to die”.
CEO and founder Jim Steyer says media and technology are neither good or bad – “it’s all about how you use them”. “I mean if you look at the numbers, it’s clear that you have this clear transformation of teens and tweens’ lives through digital and mobile platforms”.
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The implications of this digital transformation are huge for tweens and teens, educators, policymakers and parents. The survey found that 97 percent of tweens and 96 percent of teens say it is “very” or “somewhat” true that they get along well with their parents, while 90 percent of tweens and 84 percent of teens say it is “very” or “somewhat” true that they have been happy at school this past year. “Everything is digital”, he said.
