by Katherine Brind Amour
January 25, 2010

Whenever my Dad came home from work to find my siblings and me glued to the television, he would call us a bunch of “vidiots,” turn off the TV, and usher us outside to run around until dark. For much of my childhood, TV was limited to one hour per night–with Saturday morning cartoons or a movie on the weekends if we were good–and that was it.

Although I find it slightly ironic that I am writing this on my laptop (equipped with high-speed wireless internet) while listening to a CD (through the TV, which is hooked up to my husband’s Play Station 3, of course), I am still sad to report that daily media usage in 8- to 18-year-olds has become more time-consuming than a full-time job. Add in texting and cell phone conversations, another 14 hours per week on average, and they become workaholics!

Many kids spend upwards of 50 hours each week watching TV, surfing the web, listening to music, or playing video games, while they spend less than 14 hours per week participating in sports or being physically active.

In a nationwide study released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation, researchers found that current levels of media usage in 8- to 18-year-olds have increased significantly since 2004. Instead of 6 hours and 21 minutes of daily media usage in 2004, most kids now spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes using media for entertainment every single day (these totals do not include texting or talking on cell phones). Furthermore, when multitasking was included–surfing the web and listening to music simultaneously, for instance–the total daily exposure time increased from 8 hours and 33 minutes in 2004 to 10 hours and 45 minutes per day in 2009.

Limiting screen time
Short of embracing a full-fledged Luddite worldview, how can parents take control of the amount of time their children spend using media for entertainment–and why should they?

For starters, as time in front of the TV or computer increases, grades decrease, according to the Kaiser study. Children who were heavy media users were also more likely to report often feeling unhappy or bored, and were less likely to get along well with their parents or be happy at school than moderate or light media users.

Parents should also know that the above numbers exclude computer and other media use for academic purposes, which can mean several additional hours of computer or media usage each week. It is almost hard to believe that children have any time to eat dinner, do homework, or help with household chores!

The Kaiser study also reports that, parental limits and ground rules seem at least modestly successful at moderating the amount of time children spend using media. Parents looking for advice on monitoring or reducing their kids’ media time can also look to resources such as the National Institute on Media and the Family for tips on shifting the focus from computers and TV to family relationships and other, more engaging activities.

Why has media use increased?
Besides the fact that the domain of after-school gab sessions has switched from the living room to the chat room and group social games like Pogs and street hockey have given way to computer MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role-playing games), kids seem to be able to work media into every hour of the day.

Much of the overall increase in media usage over the past five years is likely attributable to increased access; few parental restrictions coupled with a rise in the number of children owning individual or portable media devices has created a window of opportunity for kids to cram even more media into their day than they could five years ago. In 2004, only 18 percent of 8- to 18-year-olds had an iPod or MP3 player, but by 2009 over 75 percent of them owned one.

To add to the accessibility theory, the Kaiser study showed that children with TV in their bedroom (the number of whom have cable or satellite TV growing 12 percent since 2004) have an average of four more hours per day of total media exposure than kids with no bedroom TV. Now that phones and music devices often have multiple media capabilities, kids can sneak a look at video clips on their iPods between classes or play Pac-man on their phones while waiting for the bus.

Although to some extent it could be argued that MP3 players have simply replaced portable CD players and that X-Box merely upstaged the neighborhood arcade, there is no doubt that kids are spending more time with the extensive range of modern media than ever before, leaving precious little time for anything else.

Now that I am old enough to set my own rules for media use, I am grateful that my parents restricted the time I could spend staring at the TV or the computer–it fostered my creativity, gave me a deeper appreciation of reading and board games, opened up my time for developing friendships, and ensured my involvement in many memorable household activities (including chores!). I understand that life has more to offer than pop culture and constant digital entertainment, and unless kids step back from the screen to find this out for themselves, that’s a lesson it may take a long time for them to learn.