Parents and youth pastors have their work cut out for them. According to a national report, teens spend just under nine hours per day consuming entertainment media, a category the study uses to include anything from reading a book to playing Xbox to updating Instagram.
“In sum, media are an enormous presence in young people’s lives,” says the report from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that educates parents and kids about media and technology, “a huge claim on their time and attention, and an element of their lives that is well worth our continued attention.”
There’s a wealth of information in the report, but Common Sense Media draws five major conclusions to summarize its findings:
1.There is a vast multitude of ways that teens interact with media, and there is no one form of media that stands out as the clear favorite among young people. When asked to list their most favorite media activity, 30 percent of teens responded with listening to music and 15 percent said playing video games, followed by reading (10 percent), using social media (10 percent) and watching TV (9 percent).
2. Despite the abundance of new forms of media, watching TV and listening to music are still popular.
3. Teens spend more time consuming media than creating media. “While there are young people who use their computers and tablets and smartphones to code, write or make art or music, the time devoted to such activities pales in comparison to the time spent watching TV and videos, listening to music or playing games,” the report says.
4. There are socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in how teens use media. Youth from lower-income households spend almost three more hours per day with media than youth from higher-income homes. Black teens spend two to three more hours per day with media than Hispanic and white teens.
5. The pervasiveness of entertainment media in the lives of teenagers is striking. When teens spend more than one-third of their day on media content, we have to wonder how it’s affecting their attitudes and perspectives. “That content is replete with messages that help shape young people’s views of the world around them,” the report says.
To read the full report, go to CommonSenseMedia.org »
