BodiMojo Blog

By Remy Marin

In a world of smart phones, computer, televisions and other electronic toys, as a teen, I consider myself to be a moderate media user, although, full disclosure: I text often enough that I can type and send without looking (it’s true, I did it yesterday!), and I manage to make time in my insanely busy schedule for a few Twitter updates, a round of Facebook and Gmail, and maybe even a few episodes of Chelsea Lately if I’m lucky.  So it was no surprise to me when I read the Kaiser Family Foundation survey on “Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds,” which finds that young people between the ages of eight and 18 devote just under eight hours a day to media consumption – which actually adds up to almost 11 hours, because kids “multitask,” I.M.ing while playing video games, or watching TV while checking email.  And disturbingly, youth with heavy screen time report lower grades and less happiness – for all our wired interconnectedness, heavy media users say they’re often sad or unhappy as well as bored.

It’s inarguable that media usage by today’s youth skyrocketed as decade 2K came to a close. While the Kaiser results don’t quite make me want to delete my social networking accounts and limit my cell phone usage to emergency use only, I think it’s important for today’s youth to be aware of this survey and the effects of heavy media usage.  Generation Y has a lot to figure out about how to handle all the technology that has been thrown at us in the past few years, and this survey is a very telling jumping off point.

Inevitably, we can expect some sort of backlash from parents worrying that children are spending too much time with technology, and maybe not enough time socializing.  But I’m not so quick to jump to that conclusion.

While it is true that media usage has increased, it’s also true that there is more reason to use to media in the first place.  Technology has much more to offer than it did five years ago.  For example, the old AOL Instant Messaging could only amuse kids for so long.  Now, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Gmail provide endless hours of social networking, video-watching fun.  The Internet has also become much more resourceful in recent years, as online databases and libraries have made researching much easier.

Additionally, these new activities aren’t necessarily bad, but just different.  Despite the common argument that technology is destroying real social time, the Kaiser survey also shows that kids who heavily use media are more likely than lighter users to have a larger group of friends; in other words, media is actually expanding social lives.

Finally, the study found that kids are reading books more, which I think somewhat invalidates the common concern that the increase in technology is decreasing genuine intellect.  And though kids are reading magazines and newspapers less, they’re still staying up-to-date with world affairs through online newspapers and Web sites.

At the same time, there are a few findings on the survey that bother me a bit. Heavy users of media tend to get in trouble quite a bit, and are less likely to get along with their parents than light or moderate users.  But what disturbs me the most is that heavy media users are reportedly less happy.  What I take away from these findings is the concern that kids are becoming so engrossed in technology that they are losing the joy of being a kid.  They’re not spending quality face-to-face time with friends and family.  Watching a YouTube video of a stranger falling is not nearly as funny as witnessing your klutzy best friend walk right into a wall.  Instant Messaging Harry Potter quotes back and forth falls short of actually hanging out, and texting your mom isn’t quite discussing how your respective days were.

So what’s the bottom line? We can’t stop the march of media but yes, but teens need to take a small step back from all of the TV/Internet/cell phone/iPod, mesmerizing as it all may seem.

Remy Marin is a Boston area high schooler who is interested in humanities and foreign languages.