Article Assessment #2: Teens and Technology

(full article here)

Overview

This article describes the increasing number of hours that young people spend using electronic media every day, and the role that parents can play in their children's technology habits. Young people (8-18 years of age) use electronic media an average of 7.5 hours a day. This includes television, mp3 players, video games, and computer use. The variety and interconnectedness of these devices makes it particularly challenging for parents and guardians to fully understand what their children are doing with their electronic devices (EDs). Only three in ten teenagers report having any rules regarding their use of EDs. Teens who do have limits set by parents spend about three hours less per day using EDs than other teens.

Reference Points

• Young people ages 8-18 spend about 7.5 hours a day using electronic media.
• Teens spend about 25 minutes a day reading books, and 3 minutes a day reading newspapers.
• About 50% of "heavy media users" earn fair to poor grades; about 25% of "light users" earn fair to poor grades.
• Only 3 in 10 teens report having rules at home about their use of electronic devices.
• When parents set limits on the use of electronic devices, young people use them about 3 fewer hours each day.
• Lack of familiarity with electronic devices does not excuse parents from setting limits on their use.

Reflection

This report says little that I have not heard before, and the numbers may be misleading. The difference between using an mp3 player to listen to music is significantly different than using a cell phone to text. Many of my students work better on certain tasks if allowed to listen to music on headphones; none work better if allowed to text while trying to concentrate on a specific task. For most of the last century young people have been listening to significant amounts of music, so including listening to mp3 players in these statistics seems questionable. However, the statistic about seven in ten teens having no limits set on their use of electronic devices is alarming. Young people need guidance in learning how to interpret the online world, and that guidance has to start with limits. Parents need education about how to set limits on the use of devices they don't fully understand, as much as young people need limits on their use of EDs.