Dear Commons Community,

A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation  found that the average young American (ages 8 -18)  spends  more than seven and a half hours a day using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device.   This is compared to less than six and a half hours a day five years ago, when the study was last conducted.

The full report is available at:

http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm

Obviously this kind of use has serious implications for issues related to school work, childhood obesity, attention deficit, multitasking, etc.  Dr. Michael Rich, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital Boston who directs the Center on Media and Child Health, was quoted as saying that with media use so ubiquitous, it was time to stop arguing over whether it was good or bad and accept it as part of children’s environment, “like the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat.”

A NY Times article summarizing the report is available at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/education/20wired.html

Tony