Bill MacKenty

Average child spends 10 hours, 45 minutes per day using media

This is buzzing around the net, I thought I’d add to the discussion.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (pdf here) kids are spending 10 hours using media every day!

From the article:

“Over the past five years, young people have increased the amount of time they spend consuming media by an hour and seventeen minutes daily, from 6:21 to 7:38—almost the amount of time most adults spend at work each day, except that young people use media seven days a week instead of five.

Moreover, given the amount of time they spend using more than one medium at a time, today’s youth pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those daily 7½ hours—an increase of almost 2¼ hours of media exposure per day over the past five years.”

Ok, I’m surprised. I knew kids used media, but the sheer volume is staggering.  What are the practical implications for teachers and educational technology?

1. We need to focus on digital citizenship (like here).
2. Critical thinking remains a “keystone skill”
3. We need to educate parents about the importance of “off”
4. As educators, we need to realize that kids see and interact with world differently than we did, and change our teaching approach accordingly.
5. As educators, we need to really evaluate different media as an effective learning tool (just because they use it, doesn’t mean it’s good).

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.