(credit: Steve Paine/Flickr)
To no one’s surprise, tablets, smartphones, laptops, and televisions are now permanent fixtures in the lives of most kids. But knowledge of whether that media use will enrich their minds or turn them into easily distractible dullards is fuzzy. And researchers and parents are still trying to figure out what exactly children and teens actually do with their glowing gadgets.
In two separate surveys released this week, researchers reveal new insights into how kids, six months to 18 years old, use media. The most striking takeaway from the studies may be that screen time now transcends both age and socioeconomic status—some six-month-old infants in low-income families have their own dedicated mobile devices with Internet access, researchers found. A third of three- and four-year-olds included in one study used multiple media devices at once, a practice called “media multitasking.” And teenagers across the country log an average of about nine hours a day with media, with some spending up to 16 hours a day.
But a closer look reveals complex usage patterns and a hodgepodge of smaller trends. Some of those trends may worry health professionals and parents; others may seem heartening. In the end, researchers are hopeful that the data will help iron out much-needed recommendations to parents on what types and amounts of media use is OK for kids. And the findings may offer clues on how experts could wring educational and developmental benefits out of kids’ gadget time.
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