For Kids and Media Use, How Much is Too Much?

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Kids today are often more digitally connected than their parents. We see teenagers taking selfies and immediately posting to their social media accounts, or middle school students using a language app on their phones for Spanish class. But how much media time are kids logging these days, and are they making smart choices with their connectivity time?

Common Sense Media recently released The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Teens and Tweens, a new study quantifying children’s media use. The numbers are predictably big: teens use media about nine hours a day, tweens around six hours.

But it’s not that kids are using media from 3 p.m. to midnight every day, though some probably are. At least a few of those hours, maybe a lot, are counted more than once. A child may spend an hour listening to music, watching television and talking with friends on Kik or SnapChat, all at the same time, but that counts as three hours of media use.

The data also tell us that there are a lot of variations in the ways kids are using media and technology. Boys spend more time gaming than girls. Girls spend more time on social networks than boys. Children of color and from lower income families have different media habits than children in higher income or Caucasian families. There are also distinct kinds of media users, from “mobile gamers” to “social networkers” to “light users.”

It’s complicated. In a panel discussion following the release of the Census, Dr. Ellen Wartella pointed out that this data set doesn’t tell us the content kids are using, the context in which they use it, or their conduct with the media and technology. And that’s important. There is a lot of great educational media that is helping kids think and learn, and some that is less appropriate for kids. As FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said, the technology and media are agnostic. They’re not good or bad. It’s what we do with them that make them a positive or negative influence.

The Census provides a framework for parents and educators looking at children’s media and technology use. Understanding what kind of media user a child is or how his or her use compares to the average child can be helpful in framing discussions with kids about their media habits. And it gives adults a good opportunity to examine our own use of technology and the example we model for our children.

The cable industry offers tools and information to parents to help them make thoughtful decisions about managing their family’s media use. At Control With Cable, there is an abundance of guidance for parents on choosing, educating and controlling media and technology for their children. From media and information literacy to internet safety, parents and adults can also learn how to pick the controls on their televisions, computers and mobile phones that are appropriate for their families and young ones at home.

You don’t have to be an expert in technology to start a conversation with kids about media use. But The Common Sense Census along with tools and tips from Common Sense Media and Control With Cable are great places to start.