Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds

Speaking with Dr. Jane Healy this morning, author of the fabulous book Failure to Connect, she brought to my attention a study just released by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In the study, they examine the amount, and types of media our kids are using these days. They found that kids:

... are spending an increasing amount of time using "new media" like computers, the Internet and video games ...

They raise some interesting questions:

• broad societal issues - what does it mean for the nature of childhood? or to interpersonal and familial connections?
• health concerns - what about the impact of ever more graphic sex and violence? or the link to childhood obesity?
• issues of cognitive development - can new media offer educational content in an appealing and effective format? or do they distract from more substantive pursuits such as reading and homework?.
• Do media stifle or inspire creativity in young people? Empower or disenfranchise them?
• Offer powerful tools for health education, or model unhealthy habits?

All questions we as concerned parents should be seeking answers to for the well being of our children. The Foundation has discovered:

Young people today live media-saturated lives, spending an average of nearly 6 1/2 hours a day (6:21) with media.

Wow - 6 1/2 hours per day! That's 40% of the time in a day they are awake! The study goes on to state:

This generation is largely happy and well-adjusted, but those who are least content or get the poorest grades spend more time with video games and less time reading than their peers.

However, for me, here's the scariest part:

Despite the concerns parents express about the impact of media on their children, this study does not find much evidence of major efforts on their part to curb or monitor their children's media consumption. The majority of young people say their parents don't impose any rules on them regarding their use of tv, video games, music, or computers.

They conclude with:

The sheer amount of time young people spend using media ... makes it plain that the potential of media to impact virtually every aspect of young people's lives cannot be ignored. ... Anything that takes up this much space in young people's lives deserves our full attention.

It's time for us parents to take action and set some limits on these kids!