A recent report told us something we already knew: that 8 to 18-year-olds, "Generation Z," are totally plugged in and fully wired for sound.
Albert Kelly By Mayor Albert Kelly
A couple of weeks ago a report, "Media Use by Tweens and Teens", from the group Common Sense Media hit the streets. The report is a fairly detailed survey of American kids between the ages of 8 and 18 on their media habits, preferences, and the overall role media plays in their lives.
It is hefty at upwards of 90 pages and assuming you care about such things, it is certainly worth checking out. In one sense, the report told us something we already knew: that 8 to 18-year-olds, "Generation Z," are totally plugged in and fully wired for sound.
On the other hand, if parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, educators, and policy makers never really stopped to think about exactly what this means for kids then perhaps like me, you might be surprised or even concerned about some of the results in the survey.
One finding is that tweens (8 to 12-year-olds) are spending about six hours out of their waking day locked onto a screen of some sort and for teens (13 to 18) that number is nine hours. This screen time does not include using media for homework or school assignments.
One of the findings from the survey has the majority of tweens and teens being plugged into some type of media while studying and doing homework. Of these, 50 percent said they used social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, snapchat, etc.), 51 percent said they watched TV while doing homework, 60 percent were texting, and 76 percent listen to music. I wonder what part all of this played in our recent PARCC scores.
My older sister seemed a pro at watching TV, with the radio on, holding conversations while doing homework. Like her, the majority of these kids believe that social media, TV, texting, and listening to music while studying had absolutely no effect on their work. I know we try to "multi-task", but we can't really focus and concentrate on two tasks at once. Something is going to suffer and it's usually school work.
Interestingly, 53 percent of tweens have their own tablets while 24 percent have their own smart phone. We're talking about 8 to 12-year-olds which makes me wonder if parents actually know how their children study or what they're viewing. For teens, 37 percent have their own tablets and 67 percent have their own smartphones.
MORE: Nighttime texting linked to bad grades, N.J. study finds
As for accountability, 53 percent of teens and 72 percent of tweens say a parent has talked with them about the amount of time they spend on media, while 66 percent of teens and 84 percent of tweens say a parent has spoken with them about the content of the media their engaged with. But 25 percent to 30 percent of teens say their parents don't have a clue as to what's going on.
For what it's worth, kids from lower income homes (especially black and Hispanic kids) spend two hours and 25 minutes more a day parked in front of some type of screen media than kids from upper income homes (primarily white kids). Does this play any role in terms of academic success?
There are several other findings in the survey, but the overall theme is that media of all types saturates our kids' lives for good or for ill. That's not going to change and my take away from the survey is twofold.
First, while this was a national survey, these scenarios get played out right here in our own community, in our own neighborhoods with our children on a daily basis. And while any given day spent plugged in to some form of media for six or nine hours won't make or break a kid, when you stack them all together, it forms an academic career, so it matters what happens day to day.
Which brings me to my second thing: parents need to know how much media kids are consuming and when. There's a need to make sure that kids learn how to give their full attention to a task, in his case school work, because there's simply no way that they can learn and retain information if it's competing with music, social media, or TV.
Finally, it's about proportionality. Like so much in this life, too much of something, even a good thing, can be harmful, have unintended consequences, and we have a responsibility to teach children how to find the right balance in their own lives. It is part of learning how to exercise restraint and practice moderation -- lessons that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.
Albert B. Kelly is mayor of Bridgeton. Contact him by phone at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200.
Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times atletters@southjerseymedia.com
