On this blog, I've written a lot about teenage social media use, so naturally I click on every study I see that tries to put numbers to teenage screen-time. Below are the numbers I've seen most recently.
In 2016, researchers at Common Sense Media found that teens spend almost 9 hours (8:56) a day not including school or homework consuming media.
In a study as far back as 2010 the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that teens (8-18 years old) are spending approximately 7:38 a day consuming media. The study ranks "total media exposure" for the 11-14 demographic at 11:53, and for the 15-18 demographic at 11:23. Those numbers take into account multitasking, which will often double media exposure through multiple screens. Speaking of multi-tasking, according to Common Sense Media (2016), teens reported that they multitasked at high rates when doing homework: 51% watch TV, 50% use social media, and 60% text. Every scientific study related to multitasking has proven it's inefficient. But teens either 1) don't know how bad it is for performance or 2) don't care enough to stop or 3) can't stop.
In a 2015 researchers at Pew reported that 24% of teens (13-17) admit that they go online "almost constantly." That number increases for the next age group (18-29) where 29% say they go online almost constantly. Additionally, fully 91% of teens access the web daily via a mobile device, which proves the breadth of internet use amongst teens. And 71% of teens are accessing more than one social media site on a consistent basis, which shows the depth of internet use amongst teens.
Clearly the numbers for screen-time and media consumption uncovered by these organizations only seem to be increasing amongst teens--not to mention how that change is affecting their ability to complete homework, sleep, and associate with their family, just to name a few of the major implications of this change in our teens. But as an educator, I'm most interested by these numbers because they prove the importance of both teaching teens how to use their screen-time productively and teaching teens how to be informed consumers of media. Unfortunately, I don't think we're doing a great job with this, and I don't know where this fits into our current curriculum. So it often seems like teens are living in a fundamentally different reality than we (educators) lived in when we were there age. And we're not using our power as mentors and teachers to help them navigate this new world of media and screen ubiquity.
I've advocated previously that we need to create new classes to help students manage their screen time and be informed consumers of media (here and here). But even if schools won't add classes to their current curriculum, perhaps we can spend more time addressing these trends in teen culture in the following disciplines:
English/History: Research, consumption patterns, media literacy, and digital citizenship
Art: creating, posting, and curating online media
Psychology: The brain and computer use, addiction, multitasking & the social psychology behind exporting an image of yourself online.
Health: Heathy habits for screen-time and how to create a healthy online image
Technology: This could serve as a catch-all for a lot of the above. It can also help them use their screen time efficiently.
Check out the essay I published on my medium page for advice on teaching teenagers how to use social media responsibly, professionally and to enhance learning.
Sources:
Teens Social Media and Technology Overview 2015 - Pew
Common Sense Media 2015: Executive Summary - CSM
Common Sense Media 2016: Executive Summary - CSM
Technology Addiction: Concern, Controversy, and Finding Balance - CSM
The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens - CSM
Generation M2 Media in the Lives of 8-18 year olds: A Kaiser Family Foundation Study (2010) - KFF
