Soaking Up the Media: Full-Time Job for Kids

Mar. 10, 2005 -- Many American kids are growing up with media as a constant companion.

"Young people today live media-saturated lives, spending an average of nearly 6.5 hours a day with media," says a new Kaiser Family Foundation report. That equals about 44.5 hours per week, as much as a full-time job, says the report.

Kids' Media Use

The study looked at a wide range of media including TV, music, computers, and video games. TV and music were the top media sources among kids and teens. Interactive media came next, followed by reading. Here's how each source ranked, with participants' average daily hours:

• TV: 3 hours (nearly 4 hours with DVDs, videos, and prerecorded shows)
• Music: 1.4 hours
• Computers: 1 hour (not counting schoolwork)
• Video games: 49 minutes
• Reading: 43 minutes (books, magazines, newspapers not required for school)

When it comes to TV, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends no more than one to two hours of quality TV or videos for older children per day, and no screen time for children under 2 years.

The Kaiser Family Foundation's report is based on a national sample of 2,000 children aged 8-18 years. Participants filled out anonymous written questionnaires detailing their media use on the previous day. Additional information came from media diaries kept for a week by nearly 700 young people.

Researchers included Stanford University communication professor Donald F. Roberts, PhD, who has studied children and media since the 1960s. Roberts has also served as an educational consultant for some children's TV programs and helped develop the rating and parental advisory system adopted by the computer game industry.

How Many Media Devices Are in Kids' Homes?

The children and teens in the study had many ways to access the media. The typical participant lives in a home with:

• 3.6 CD or tape players
• 3.5 TVs
• 3.3 radios
• 2.9 VCRs/DVD players
• 2.1 video game consoles
• 1.5 computers

Almost one in four live in homes with five or more TVs. In 63% of the kids' homes, TV usually stays on during meals. TV is left on most of the time -- even if no one is watching it -- in half (51%) of the kids' homes, says the report.

Race, Class Gaps

Most children of all major ethnic and socioeconomic groups had Internet access at home. However, some gaps remain.

For instance, 80% of white participants had Internet access at home, compared with 61% of black youth. In addition, about half (54%) of kids going to school in communities with average incomes of less than $35,000 per year go online daily, compared with 71% of those from communities with an average income of more than $50,000 per year.