Teen Techies

Teen+Techies

Brahamdeep Kaur (9th), Reporter

For a lot of people, the first step of the day includes checking one’s phone for notifications.  Technology has shaped our lives and the lives of teens and tweens alike.

Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization committed to safe cyber education, conducted a report titled “The Common Sense: Media Use by Tweens and Teens” in February-March 2015. 2,658 children were surveyed between the ages of 8-18 with two categories: tweens, ages 8-12 and teens ages 13-17. This report was done to research media use in teens and tweens in the United States.

The average American teenager spends 9 hours on media a day for their own personal entertainment. This includes watching TV, playing video games, reading, browsing social media, and listening to music.

The report also shows the difference in the ratios of boys and girls.  Girls are said to spend more time listening to music, reading, and using social media; while boys are said to spend more time playing video games.  The average teenage boy spends 56 minutes a day playing video games compared to the 7 minutes for girls.

Most teens multitask while doing homework by listening to music or watching TV and think it doesn’t affect their work. In fact, many think it helps.

Only 3% of a teen’s time spent on media is spent on content creation like creating art, music, and writing.  26% time was devoted to communication which includes social media and texting.  Teens consume 39% time watching TV or videos, reading, or listening to music.  25% use was for playing video games.

Overall, most of our media use is consuming information rather than using it for creation.

Watching TV and listening to music are the two most preferred and enjoyed activities for teens today.  Contrary to popular belief, only 10% of teens think of social media as they’re favorite activity. This is though social media continues to have a powerful presence in their lives.

House income has an impact on the types of media and how much media a teen uses media and how they use it.  Teens in lower income homes are less likely to have access to media like laptops and smartphones.

Whether it’s playing video games or texting a friend, media has a strong influence on how, teens, spend their daily lives.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/teens-tweens-media-screen-use-report/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/health/being-13-teens-social-media-study/index.html

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_executivesummary.pdf