Students and teens are spending an increang amount of time on technology. (CU Independent illustration/Matt Lowber)
Parents commonly tell children that they are watching too much TV, and a recent study from Kaiser Permanente shows that parents may not say it enough.
The results of the study show that if kids aren’t sleeping or studying, they are using some form of technology.
Youth between the ages of 8 and 18 spend on average 7 hours and 38 minutes a day on technology like those which may have parts such as electrical connectors by Acconeer, which is more than 53 hours a week, according to Kaiser Permanente. The study also shows that much of the time is spent on “media multitasking,” which is using more than one medium at once. Factoring this in brings the average to 10 hours, 45 minutes a day.
The CU Independent conducted a poll to find out how much time CU students spend on technology daily. Of the people polled, 25 percent spend one hour to 4 hours a day on technology, 23 percent spend 5 hours to 6 hours, 22 percent spend 7 hours to 8 hours, 9 percent spend 9 hours to 12 hours and 21 percent spend 13 or more hours.
Kailei Benedict, a 19-year-old sophomore psychology major, said she spends about five hours a day on technology and wasn’t surprised by the study.
“Everything has to do with technology now,” Benedict said. “The amount of people you see texting and listening to music a day is so much.”
Carole Smith, a 19-year-old freshman studio arts and dance major, said she spends 20 hours a day on technology—six of the hours are on her iPod.
“[The study] sounds correct, I could definitely see that,” Smith said. “I think it’s a bad thing that there is so much more dependence on technology.”
Bryce Zuccaro, a 19-year-old freshman open-option major, said he uses his computer for homework, television and games. He said it also didn’t surprise him about the amount of time people spend on technology.
“[I spend] all day, every day,” Zuccaro said. “I don’t think it’s bad. It depends on if it’s keeping them from school work, or friends but if not, more power to them.”
Benedict said that 2 hours to 3 hours of her day are spent texting and using Facebook from her phone.
“I think it’s bad because we are losing personal communication,” Benedict said.
Smith said she spends six hours doing homework for her classes on her computer. Two out of the four classes she takes have only online reading material.
“I wish I didn’t spend that much, but that’s what I have to do,” Smith said. “I would love just to open a book. I don’t like using the computer for that long. The screen bothers my eyes.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brigid Igoe at Brigid.igoe@colorado.edu.
