A new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that the average young American now spends practically every waking minute “” except for the time in school “” using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, .
Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago, when the study was last conducted. And that does not count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cellphones.
And because so many of them are multitasking “” say, surfing the Internet while listening to music “” they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours.
The study’s findings shocked its authors, who had concluded in 2005 that use could not possibly grow further, and confirmed the fears of many parents whose children are constantly tethered to media devices. It found, moreover, that heavy media use is associated with several negatives, including behavior problems and lower grades.
The study found that young people’s media consumption grew far more in the last five years than from 1999 to 2004, as sophisticated mobile technology like iPods and smart phones brought media access into teenagers’ pockets and beds.
While most of the young people in the study got good grades, 47 percent of the heaviest media users “” those who consumed at least 16 hours a day “” had mostly C’s or lower, compared with 23 percent of those who typically consumed media three hours a day or less. The heaviest media users were also more likely than the lightest users to report that they were bored or sad, or that they got into trouble, did not get along well with their parents and were not happy at school.
The report is based on a survey of more than 2,000 students in grades 3 to 12 that was conducted from October 2008 to May 2009.
On average, young people spend about two hours a day consuming media on a mobile device, the study found. They spend almost another hour on “old” content like television or music delivered through newer pathways like the Web site Hulu or iTunes. Youths now spend more time listening to or watching media on their cellphones, or playing games, than talking on them.
The Kaiser study found that more than 7 in 10 youths have a TV in their bedroom, and about a third have a computer with Internet access in their bedroom.
The heaviest media users, the study found, are black and Hispanic youths and “tweens,” or those ages 11 to 14.
Schools have attempted to ban the use of cellphones, PDA’s, Ipods, etc and run into resistance from parents and students. This study indicates that student use of technology is built into their DNA and schools need to identify ways to harness this technology rather than banning it.