AfterDawn: News

Video Daily: Kids spend more time online, watching TV, than sleeping

According to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children ages 8-18 spend about nine and a half hours "glued" to screens, including TV, computers, MP3 players and phones.

The study, dubbed "Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds," showed that kids are spending more time with media then sleeping. It appears that it may be affecting their school work as well.

"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 Cs or lower, compared with 23 percent of those who typically consumed media three hours a day or less," says the study.





Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Jan 2010 12:03

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• 9 comments

• DXR88

  yeah no shit, didn't need to do a study to figure that out.
  
  i got A's and B's in school, i stayed on about 5 to 6 hours.
  
  this study is flawed however unless your popping energy pills with Mountain dew just to stay up 16 more hours a day. only to get offline to go to school.

  21.1.2010 13:54 #1

• IguanaC64

  The next study will show that kids stay awake more than they sleep!

  21.1.2010 16:20 #2

• IPRFenix

  This "study" is really iffy.
  Most kids in that age range go to school.
  Where I'm from, a typical kids schedule is..
  10pm-6am = bed time. 7:30am-2:30pm = school time.
  Lets just assume the time it takes to get out of school, get home, put your crap away, is ~30minutes. Now it's 3pm.
  Lets assume an "average" homework load of ~30minutes (This is what I remember it to be, though it could be longer now.). It's now 3:30pm. Lets assume that between eating, showering, and using the bathroom, they spend 30 minutes.
  This only leaves them with 6 hours a day to do what ever the hell they want to.
  
  How did they arrive at kids being "glued" to a screen for 9 1/2 hours, all the way up to 16hours a day? Oh wait, let me rephrase it like the article says. "at least 16 hours" a day. What? How is that possible? You can only avoid sleep for so long before you pass out. The only way they could manage this, is by not even going to school. If this is the case and they still manage C's, then I'm damned impressed.
  
  If you're watching TV for "at least" 16hours a day, then you have LESS than 8 hours to split between, eating food, taking a shower/bath, going potty, and sleeping. Good luck fitting school in there too..

  21.1.2010 16:24 #3

• dragnandy

  are those numbers independent hours or what? because i can listen to music, play games, and do homework at the same time (if i am playing a sim game or something, not fps). lets say i do all 3 of those for 2 hours, does that add up to 2 hours of music, 2 hours of games, 2 hours of studying? thats 6 hours of work done into 2! hmm the wonders of multi-tasking.
  
  even though i think these numbers may be outrageous, its no doubt that what they are stating is true. They are just exaggerating the seriousness of this. Obviously if a kid is spending time playing games instead of studying for his exam the next day, then his grade may drop. Parents just need to find a balance between work and play.

  21.1.2010 19:43 #4

• KillerBug

  According to the graph on their website, the AVERAGE time spent in front of a screen is 11 hours, 45 minutes...that seems extremely high untill you realize that the schools use computers and TVs as educational tools and kids have cell phones that are always on. Then you add MP3 players, and the number gets downright normal...
  
  1hr on bus to school: MP3 Player
  1hr on computer in typing class: Computer
  1hr watching documentary in History class: TV
  1hr on computer in writing class: Computer
  1hr on bus going home: MP3 player
  1hr on home computer doing homework: computer
  --------------
  That is already 6 hours...just for school. What I am amazed about is that the students who had less than 3 hours a day were not failing.
  
  Now, once the homework is done, the kid goes and plays video games, watches tv, or goes outside to play while listening to an iPod...for about 6 hours total. If the kid does decide to work hard and study more, the tool used will be a computer, and the time spent using technology will be even more.
  
  The only thing this study proves is that the Kaiser foundation waists money on poorly conceived studies...as they seem to have lumped athletics, school work, and lazyness into the same "media useage" category. Then again, they seem to have also proven that 53% of kids who use media more than 16 hours a day had 'B's or higher...good work kids!

  21.1.2010 22:54 #5

• sweet stuff (unverified)

  well hu cares da internet is useful now coz i am searching on y children tv than doing homework or reading right so der is no problem with da net

  9.5.2010 12:28 #6

• prtybrilliance (unverified)

  Originally posted by IPRFenix: This "study" is really iffy.
  Most kids in that age range go to school.
  Where I'm from, a typical kids schedule is..
  10pm-6am = bed time. 7:30am-2:30pm = school time.
  Lets just assume the time it takes to get out of school, get home, put your crap away, is ~30minutes. Now it's 3pm.
  Lets assume an "average" homework load of ~30minutes (This is what I remember it to be, though it could be longer now.). It's now 3:30pm. Lets assume that between eating, showering, and using the bathroom, they spend 30 minutes.
  This only leaves them with 6 hours a day to do what ever the hell they want to.
  
  How did they arrive at kids being "glued" to a screen for 9 1/2 hours, all the way up to 16hours a day? Oh wait, let me rephrase it like the article says. "at least 16 hours" a day. What? How is that possible? You can only avoid sleep for so long before you pass out. The only way they could manage this, is by not even going to school. If this is the case and they still manage C's, then I'm damned impressed.
  
  If you're watching TV for "at least" 16hours a day, then you have LESS than 8 hours to split between, eating food, taking a shower/bath, going potty, and sleeping. Good luck fitting school in there too.. kids are not doing all of that... when they wake up in the morning some kids watch tv untill its time to get on the bus...once they come home the first they do is drop theyre bookbags and plop right in front of the tv all day auntill they want to eat something or anything like that lets remember some of these kids mom and dad proll dont come home untill late from work. so they have that option to just sit in front of the tv all day.

  3.5.2011 01:01 #7

• prtybrilliance (unverified)

  Originally posted by IPRFenix: This "study" is really iffy.
  Most kids in that age range go to school.
  Where I'm from, a typical kids schedule is..
  10pm-6am = bed time. 7:30am-2:30pm = school time.
  Lets just assume the time it takes to get out of school, get home, put your crap away, is ~30minutes. Now it's 3pm.
  Lets assume an "average" homework load of ~30minutes (This is what I remember it to be, though it could be longer now.). It's now 3:30pm. Lets assume that between eating, showering, and using the bathroom, they spend 30 minutes.
  This only leaves them with 6 hours a day to do what ever the hell they want to.
  
  How did they arrive at kids being "glued" to a screen for 9 1/2 hours, all the way up to 16hours a day? Oh wait, let me rephrase it like the article says. "at least 16 hours" a day. What? How is that possible? You can only avoid sleep for so long before you pass out. The only way they could manage this, is by not even going to school. If this is the case and they still manage C's, then I'm damned impressed.
  
  If you're watching TV for "at least" 16hours a day, then you have LESS than 8 hours to split between, eating food, taking a shower/bath, going potty, and sleeping. Good luck fitting school in there too.. kids are not doing all of that... when they wake up in the morning some kids watch tv untill its time to get on the bus...once they come home the first they do is drop theyre bookbags and plop right in front of the tv all day auntill they want to eat something or anything like that lets remember some of these kids mom and dad proll dont come home untill late from work. so they have that option to just sit in front of the tv all day.

  3.5.2011 01:01 #8

• prtybrilliance (unverified)

  Originally posted by IPRFenix: This "study" is really iffy.
  Most kids in that age range go to school.
  Where I'm from, a typical kids schedule is..
  10pm-6am = bed time. 7:30am-2:30pm = school time.
  Lets just assume the time it takes to get out of school, get home, put your crap away, is ~30minutes. Now it's 3pm.
  Lets assume an "average" homework load of ~30minutes (This is what I remember it to be, though it could be longer now.). It's now 3:30pm. Lets assume that between eating, showering, and using the bathroom, they spend 30 minutes.
  This only leaves them with 6 hours a day to do what ever the hell they want to.
  
  How did they arrive at kids being "glued" to a screen for 9 1/2 hours, all the way up to 16hours a day? Oh wait, let me rephrase it like the article says. "at least 16 hours" a day. What? How is that possible? You can only avoid sleep for so long before you pass out. The only way they could manage this, is by not even going to school. If this is the case and they still manage C's, then I'm damned impressed.
  
  If you're watching TV for "at least" 16hours a day, then you have LESS than 8 hours to split between, eating food, taking a shower/bath, going potty, and sleeping. Good luck fitting school in there too.. kids are not doing all of that... when they wake up in the morning some kids watch tv untill its time to get on the bus...once they come home the first they do is drop theyre bookbags and plop right in front of the tv all day auntill they want to eat something or anything like that lets remember some of these kids mom and dad proll dont come home untill late from work. so they have that option to just sit in front of the tv all day.

  3.5.2011 01:01 #9