Kids spending way too much time using media

In a report released Wednesday, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that our kids are consuming more media per day. As much as 7.5 hours per day, that’s an increase of 2 hours and 15 minutes from a study done 5 years ago. If your child is multi-tasking, or watching tv and surfing the internet, etc., that figure goes up to 10 hours and 45 minutes on average.

This study was done using 2002 students ranging from 3rd grade through graduation, done from October ’08 to May ’09. The study found that heavier media user tended to have lower grades, and reported being less happy than their peers who used less. The peak years for media consumption are from the ages of 11 to 14, with blacks, and Hispanic children consuming as much as 3.5 hours per day more than their counterparts.

Even in light of these facts, the study concluded also, that they are spending more time in physical activity than the previous study had shown. The previous study showed that only 1.5 hours per day was spent in physical activity, this is up by 15 minutes from the last time. One can only conclude from these studies that the technological society is changing.