“Teens and Technology – a good match?”
by John Matuszak
Overview
This article introduces studies that show the amounts of electronic media kids are exposed to and explains how more hours spent on technology doesn’t equal a positive effect on teens. The study proves entertainment technology, such as television, MP3 players, Internet, video games, cell phones, can become addictive and negatively effect a teen’s social and emotional environment.
Youth experts in the article call for more parental interaction to help calm the media blitz teens are experiencing nationwide. One report reveals about three in 10 teens have rules regarding their TV, video game and computer usage at home. As for what they can do on the computer, only half said they have specific rules. The most interesting note was 70 percent reporting a video game console or TV in their room, all of which are hidden from parental supervision. “The only freedom the kids have is on the computer,” said Janene Donarski, a counselor with Family Therapy & Development Centers in St. Joseph, Mich. “They have an escape in the Internet.”
Exposure to entertainment technology has become such an issue, psychologists are urging to add addiction to Internet and texting to the diagnostic manual for mental illness. For instance, according to a Nielsen Company study, teens with cell phones averaged 2,272 text messages a month. In the article, a high school junior admitted to sending 500 text messages a day – that’s nearly three text messages a minute. Another report found that 8- to 18-year-olds average close to 53 hours a week on entertaining technology – or an eye-popping seven hours a day.
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