The Kaiser Family Foundation recently did a study on how much kids use media stare at screens. In 10 years, the time spent by 8-18 year olds using media rose from 6:19 hours to 7:38 hours.
Another point in the study is that “heavy users” has weaker grades in schools — and seemingly, less sociable — 32% say they are often sad or unhappy, as compared to the 23% of “moderate users” and 22% of “light users”. However, more heavy users say they “Have a lot of friends”. From my experience as a 8-18 year old kid using media 8 hours a day, the result is inconclusive. Different teens/kids have different views on friends. Some may say neutral classmates are friends; some may say everyone is a friend. Also, some consider a clique of 5 as alot, while others compare themselves to popular kids and think anything below 20 friends is little.
The full study is available on the link below — its full of interesting facts and graphs about media coverage of today’s youth.
Report: Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds via Gizmodo