Legal Niches

Study: Media Usage Among Kids Almost a Full Time Job

By pete_gallagher

A new study shows that media usage among today's 8-18 year olds has increased to an average of seven hours and thirty-eight minutes per day.

That figure is dramatically from 2004 results, which showed an average total of six hours and twenty-one minutes, reports the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year Olds (PDF) still showed TV as the dominant form of media, with four hours and twenty-nine minutes consumed daily on average, with videogames weighing in at one hour and thirteen minutes of daily usage. Boys were also more likely to spend longer periods playing console games than girls, averaging fifty-six minutes a day versus fourteen for girls. PC game usage showed similar results, with boys averaging twenty-five minutes a day and girls a paltry eight minutes.

Only 30% of kids surveyed indicated that their household has rules in place for what videogames they can play, versus a 46.0% figure when it came to limiting television shows.

The study also showed at least a bit of a link between heavy media usage and poor grades, as 47.0% of 'heavy' media users reported receiving 'fair or poor' grades, versus 23.0% of 'light' media users.

71.0% of the youngsters polled said they had a TV in their bedroom and 50.0% had their own videogame console.

Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation added, 'The amount of time young people spend with media has grown to where it's even more than a full-time work week.'

56.0% of those polled indicated they had played an entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, versus 71.0% for Guitar Hero/Rock Band and 47.0% for Halo and Madden.

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on January 20, 2010 (boomark / email).