The average young American now spends practically every waking minute, except for time spent in school, using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study.
Those ages 8 to 18 spend more than seven and a half hours a day with such devices, compared with less than six and a half hours five years ago. And that does not even count the hour and a half that youths spend texting, or the half-hour they talk on their cell phones. And because so many of them are multitasking, they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours.
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.
