21st Century Family

YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY LIVE MEDIA-SATURATED LIVES, SPENDING AN AVERAGE OF NEARLY 6 1/2 HOURS A DAY (6:21) WITH MEDIA.

Across the seven days of the week, that amount is the equivalent of a full-time job, with a few extra hours thrown in for overtime (441/2 hours a week). Indeed, given that about a quarter (26%) of the time young people are using media, they’re using more than one medium at a time (reading and listening to music, for example), they are actually exposed to the equivalent of 81/2 hours a day (8:33) of media content, even though they pack that into less than 61/2 hours of time.

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This research study was done in 2003 with a sample of over 2,000 people. I found several things very interesting. The first thing is the portion of the study that holds it up against a 1999 study and just how long that period of time seemed when you contrasted the two time periods. When discussing technology and media 4-6 yrs is an eternity….so many things change! Part of the reason I pulled in a pic of the iPhone is because it is such a game changing device that puts usable internet browsing, video, social apps, music, and standard phone stuff into your pocket. It’s virtually impossible for us to really understand and contextualize the effects of these changes in an accurate and timely way. What I can say accurately is that our children will grow up in a world that it will be normal to be “plugged in” to the virtual world through their phone-computer devices and devices (many yet to be released). I would love a 2009 version of this same study!!!

The conclusion of the article is this:

The sheer amount of time young people spend using media—an average of nearly
61/2 hours a day—makes it plain that the potential of media to impact virtually every aspect of
young people’s lives cannot be ignored.

Encouragement: Ask the tough questions about your media plan. How do you plan to handle it and what are the correct amounts of exposure? Do you want to simply move along with whatever the current “norm” is (which is changing rapidly)?