Kids and Media Consumption

Kids between 8 and 18 spend over six hours a day consuming media, and thanks to multitasking (surfing the Web while listening to music), they take in 8 1/2 hours worth of media entertainment and information during those six hours.

Until more kids learn to live without sleeping, it seems that most won't spend more than six hours a day consuming media. "We are approaching (or have reached) a ceiling on media use," say the report authors. But with multitasking on the increase, the intake of more and more kinds of media during that sixhour window is expected to continue growing.

Consuming media isn't the only thing kids do, but it takes up a significant chunk of their daily lives. Here's a look at how much time young people spend on some of the more important activities that fill their days:

Watching TV = 3:04
Hanging out with parents = 2:17
Hanging out with friends = 2:16
Listening to music = 1:44
Exercising, sports, etc. = 1:25
Watching movies/videos = 1:11
Using a computer = 1:02
Pursuing hobbies, clubs, etc. = 1:00

Media is a great leveling influence, and there's amazing uniformity in the consumption patterns of all kinds of kids. The only significant differences are that boys seem to like video games more than girls and African- Americans like TV more than other groups.