How Much Time Do Your Kids Spend Online?
How much time do you think kids aged 8 to 18 spend using electronic devices during the day? Five hours? Six hours? Try again. According to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, kids and teens from the ages of 8 to 18 spend over seven and a half hours a day watching TV, surfing the web (on computers and from their mobile phones), or listening to music on digital media players.
When you take into account the time they spend texting or talking on their phones, the number blooms to a phenomenal nine hours of total time using electronic devices. This is a substantial increase from the last time the survey was conducted in 2005, when the total time clocked in at less than six and a half hours.
For a better understanding of how kids and teens are spending their time on electronic devices, check out the graphic below.
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According to the New York Times, “The study’s findings shocked its authors, who had concluded in 2005 that use could not possibly grow further, and confirmed the fears of many parents whose children are constantly tethered to media devices. It found, moreover, that heavy media use is associated with several negatives, including behavior problems and lower grades.”
A significant reason why the numbers have increased so much in such a relatively short period of time is the explosion of smartphones, which are capable of accessing mobile Internet, downloading music, streaming videos, in addition to texting and calling. Whereas previous generations would have been forced to curb their media consumption simply because they were not near a computer, kids today can be plugged in to the web literally 24 hours a day.
So what does this mean for parents? For one thing, it shows that parents must reconsider how they talk to their kids about using the Internet, and also that they should institute realistic limits on the amount of time their kids use certain devices. If you don’t know how to get started with laying down Internet rules, I recommend checking out our Five Common Sense Social Networking Rules for Kids.
Another thing that this study shows is that it is practically impossible for parents to monitor their kids’ Internet use all on their own. We know that most parents aren’t concerned about what their kids are doing online, so much as keeping them safe from online predators and cyberbullies. That’s why ReputationDefender created MyChild. When you can’t be there to keep an eye out for them, we can be there for you.
For more information on MyChild, please feel free to ReputationDefender a call today at 1-888-720-9980.
