Today’s youth live media-saturated lives
"Watching TV, playing video games, listening to music and surfing the Internet have become a full-time job for the typical American child."
- Americans aged 13 to 18 spend more than 6.5 hours per day using electronic media — defined as the Internet, cell phones, television, music, and video games. Because teens are known for multitasking, their usage of devices often overlaps.
- An estimated 75 percent of teens spend two or three hours a day downloading or listening to music online.
- Eighty percent of teens own cell phones — the average age for getting a first cell phone is between 10 and 11; about 50 percent of kids 8- to 12-years-old have a cell phone.
- Teens with cell phones average 2,272 texts per month (that works out to 75 per day), and they make 203 calls a month (6.5 a day).
- Teens spend an average of 16.7 hours per week online, and 13.6 hours per week watching TV.
- Forty-seven percent of American teenagers have a Facebook account.
- American teenagers spend $125 billion each year, averaging about $5,000 per teenager, with approximately 40 percent of their spending on music, video games and electronics.
- Sixty-nine percent of kids ages 6 to 14 have TVs in their bedrooms.
- By first grade, most children have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of the television.
- Fifty-five percent of all online American teens use social networks and have posted a profile online. Forty-three percent say they have been contacted by a stranger online.
- A multi-university study found that 10- to 19-year-olds who played video games spent about 30 percent less time reading and 34 percent less time doing homework than non-players.
- Fifty-five percent of teens say that electronic gadgets make a statement about who they are.
- One study found that teens who used cell phones the most were more likely to be anxious and depressed.
- TV, movies, video games, and Internet use can have serious consequences for children's health. From obesity and social isolation to early sexual initiation and aggressive and violent behavior, 15 new studies link exposure to media images with a broad range of negative health, behavioral, and lifestyle issues in children and teens.
"I believe everyone in the field of youth work needs to know how media affects teens in both good and bad ways. It impacts, even shapes, their entire lives. Kids are spending great amounts of time on Internet sites that have no rating systems or watchdogs. As a youth pastor, I will never let my guard down."