Yesterday, USA Today published an article titled “Kids’ electronic media use jumps to 53 hours a week.” In it, they reported that kids spend more than 53 hours a week with electronic media (cellphones, iPods, video games and computers)–that’s 7.5 hours/day! What do they do with electronic media? They listen to music, watch TV and movies, play video games, and hang out online. And they’re often doing 2 or more of these at the same time.

Interesting facts:

  • African-American and Hispanic kids spend nearly one-third more time each day with electronics than white kids.
  • Cellphone ownership has increased sharply since 2004, from 39% to 66%.
  • Ownership of iPods has jumped even more since 2004, from 18% to 76%.
  • 20% of kids’ media comes via mobile devices–most of which have no filtering capabilities.

And the more time kids spend with electronic media, the less face time they have with their parents and siblings. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s article “Does Electronic Media Make Kids Happy?”


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