So how much time do our kids have to practice and do homework? Considering that today is the day Apple is set to tell the world about the iPad, this article is rather timely. According to this study just released from the Kaiser Family Foundation in the United States by Victoria J. Rideout, M.A.,Ulla G. Foehr, Ph.D., and Donald F. Roberts, Ph.D., kids are spending almost every waking moment with some electronic media device or another.Smart phones, texting and Twitter are taking over our lives.. Knowing my own students, I would say that what is happening here in BC would be exactly the same, especially in urban areas.

A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

Article in the New York Times

Kaiser Family Foundation Study

Generation M2; Media in the lives of 8 – 18 year olds  Pdf report