Teens Are Spending More Than One-Third Of Their Day Using Media

The same is true for youths whose parents have only a high school education who, on average, spend an average of almost two more hours (1:50) consuming media than those whose parents have a higher education.

People have been telling kids this for years and finally there are numbers to prove it. Common Sense Media released a study titled, The Common Sense Census: Media Use, which explains how young Americans interact with media today. The study says it’s not necessarily that lower-income kids are more likely to use media, but rather that those who do are heavier media users.

The most time-demanding activity among adolescents when resorting to media is listening to music (66%), which surpasses watching television (58%) and social networking (45%). Comments will appear on the live site as soon as they are approved by the moderator (within 24 hours). It was carried out by a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, which promotes safe technology and media consumption among kids.

And much of time, they’re doing it when they’re also doing other things – like homework. A massive study of 2,600 kids ages 8 to 18 found that the average teen takes in 6.5 hours of screen time per day. “Nearly two-thirds of teens today tell us they don’t think watching TV or texting while doing homework makes any difference to their ability to study and learn, even though there’s more and more research to the contrary”.

Steyer also made note that many kids do not shut off technology when they’re doing homework and schoolwork.

When it comes to consuming media on screens, including laptops. smartphones and tablets, teens, on average, spend more than six and a half hours on screens and tweens more than four and a half hours, the report found.

Listening to music has also been rated as the teens’ favorite media-related pastime, being preferred by around one-third of the respondents, whereas preteens are more attached to television.

But Dr. Michael Rich of the Center on Media and Child Health said multitasking does not exist.

Boys tend to game much more than girls, with teen boys playing 56 minutes per day, compared to girls’ seven minutes.

“I think the bottom line there is it’s a utility now”, said Steyer referring to social media.

“There are many times when he’d say he’s at his computer doing homework, but when I go and peek in on him, he’s actually playing a game”, LaRue said.

As director of research Michael Robb writes in this blog post, the study isn’t meant to demonize technology, but help parents better understand how their kids are using it – and what they can do about potentially worrisome behavior. Mobile devices account for 41% of all screen time for tweens and 46% for teens.

Texting is so much less empathetic than having a conversation in person and looking somebody in the eye and having physical or at least a verbal presence with them, he said. For one, living and communicating via mobile devices gets in the way of empathy, said Steyer. Read her other columns, and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.