
Teens Spend 9 Hours a Day with Media - dpflan
http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/teens-spend-9-hrs-a-day-with-media-3-yr-olds-are-media-multitaskers/
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gtk40
Even things like listening to music were included in this. You could do this
while in class (whether earbuds or sometimes the teacher might play some
during working time), commute/riding the bus, doing homework, etc. which could
make the number go much higher for those so inclined.

Reading is included.

Coding is included.

Writing is included.

Not speaking as a teen, but my time would be even higher if my day job, what I
do when I commute, and most of my leisure is "media."

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dpflan
The frequency with which teens can 'multitask' with media now is higher than
previous generations. However, the ability to truly multitask (parallel
processing analogy) seems weak. For example:
[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9525679...](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794)

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dpflan
Here is the study, which requires making an account to access:
[https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-
sense-c...](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-
media-use-by-tweens-and-teens)

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dudul
"But knowledge of whether that media use will enrich their minds or turn them
into easily distractible dullards is fuzzy."

Really? Is it fuzzy?

Here are the results of a study led by a German pediatrician on 1900 kids 5 to
6 years old. The question was: can you draw some people. This first link
([http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bO43-eiJbBM/S7URDMTE4WI/AAAAAAAAAK...](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bO43-eiJbBM/S7URDMTE4WI/AAAAAAAAAKU/JbrZvnfNgOQ/s1600/un+an.jpg))
shows samples of drawings by kids who spend less than 1 hour a day in front of
the TV. This is what kids who spend more than 3 hours daily watching TV drew:
[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bO43-eiJbBM/S7URPAGCQQI/AAAAAAAAAK...](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bO43-eiJbBM/S7URPAGCQQI/AAAAAAAAAKc/eamwORzg3y8/s1600/deux+ans.gif)

I'm not an old fart, I do watch TV too and enjoy a video game session once in
a while, but kids and babies need to talk to people, they need to listen to
real people to develop before they can handle just sitting idle in front of a
TV.

Edit: I'm trying to find a link to the original study that would lead to a
content in english.

~~~
smt88
Those look 5 pictures, not 1,900. I'm not going to draw a conclusion based on
a tiny subset of the results.

Also, "ability to draw a person" certainly isn't any kind of indicator of
intelligence, emotional development, etc. The kids who weren't watching TV had
to be doing _something_... which probably included practicing drawing!

There may be negative emotional effects to screens, but there certainly is a
positive effect on intelligence. I'd know about 1/10 of what I know now if I
hadn't discovered Wikipedia when I was 14.

~~~
dudul
I have no reason to believe that the pediatrician hand picked specifically 5
drawings of each set that were not representative of the overall result.

> The kids who weren't watching TV had to be doing something

Yes, like talk to people, play with their hands, run outside, draw, etc.
Drawings are actually a great indicator of a kid's development.

> there certainly is a positive effect on intelligence. I'd know about 1/10 of
> what I know now if I hadn't discovered Wikipedia when I was 14.

Intelligence is not general culture. "knowing things" is not the same as being
intelligent. Plus, using screens when you are 14 is not the same as when you
are 2 or even 5.

~~~
smt88
> _I have no reason to believe that the pediatrician hand picked specifically
> 5 drawings of each set that were not representative of the overall result._

That pediatrician likely has the same bias as you, which is that you don't
like screens and think they're bad. I doubt s/he's undertake this study
without that bias. There's also a huge incentive to create and spread studies
that show a correlation rather than fail to show anything.

It's totally pointless to speculate because we simply don't know what the
other almost 2,000 drawings look like. If the rest aren't published somewhere,
then the study is very likely BS anyway.

> _Drawings are actually a great indicator of a kid 's development._

Define "development" and show me a study.

> _Intelligence is not general culture._

I can't tell if you're trying to say that "Wikipedia is general culture"
(which is only a tiny subset of Wikipedia) or if you're saying that screens
cause people to miss out on general culture. Anyway, neither point is true.
I'd actually say the opposite is true of the latter point.

> _" knowing things" is not the same as being intelligent. Plus, using screens
> when you are 14 is not the same as when you are 2 or even 5._

Knowing things isn't the same as being intelligent, but constantly learning
new things (and being stimulated) certainly does make you more intelligent.
Kids aren't just memorizing facts when they read Wikipedia. They're creating
things to discuss with parents, which improves critical thinking. They're
seeing trends across history and culture. Wikipedia article's aren't supposed
to do this technically, but they often teach math and science concepts
directly in the article.

And that's not even considering the things on devices that _are_ supposed to
make kids more intelligent. Most parents point their kids in those directions.

I agree that too much screen time can be a net negative, because it causes
emotional issues and eliminates boredom, which has a negative effect on
creative processes and anxiety levels. But there is very little science about
any of this, at least very little _good_ science.

~~~
dudul
You have some good points. I also think we're talking about 2 vastly different
things, you're talking about teenagers reading Wikipedia, I'm talking about
toddlers who spend the day in front of the TV.

Yes, reading wikipedia is great, just like reading a book. And there are many
great things you can do on a screen. I don't hate screens I spend my days on
screens for work. Now, this article doesn't talk about wikipedia, it mentions
TV shows, video games, social media, etc. Parents who use screens to make
their babies fall asleep while it's been shown that using a screen before
going to sleep is really bad.

Anyway, as I said we're talking about different things, I don't know if you
intentionally built a straw man out of my original comment or not but it's
clear that we're not on the same topic.

