FAMILY EDUCATION -- Mar 15 -- According to the Center for Media Research, most parents in the U.S. estimate that their children spend about two hours a month on the Internet. In reality, kids and teens are spending upwards of 20 hours a month surfing the Web. ~41% of U.S. teens claim their parents have no idea what they are looking at online. The most popular online activities are online dating (23%), social networking (50%), and playing games (72%).
The full article was originally published at Epoch Times, but is no longer available.
Mark Brooks: Probably on Hotornot and Zoosk.
I am so glad we didn't have a kids computer when my firl were growing up. They learned to read real books and they played long and hard every day for many hours, inside and outside, with each other and with their little friends in mommy's playgroups. Today they are straight A students at a top ten university. I don't think spending hours on the computer gives kids any advantage in life. In fact, I think it disadvantages them. We know how we adults feel after spending many hours on the computer; tired, groggy, cranky, braindead, and shut down to interactions with others. I swear it makes me lose muscle mass! It seems like hours on the computer would stunt a kids growth. Other news out this last week was how much computer time affects a kids constantly changing eyesight, making their eyes poor and creating a need for glasses at a young age. That's really bad. I strictly rationed my kids television, movies and activities while they were little, and I think it has really paid off in who they are today as young adults. Parents are sometimes afraid to say No. If you maintain a daily schedule that the kids can count on as being consistent, they can relax within that framework and you don't have to say No all the time. Teach your kids to read real books. Save the computer time for later, when the schools insist all their homework and papers are done on the computer. Let the children be children, for just a little while.
Posted by: Kerry Gray | Mar 16, 2009 at 03:51 PM
When I was kid growing up in the UK, we had a TV program for kids called "Why Don't You."
The song went...'Why don't you, just get up and go do something more interesting instead...'
That was to urge kids to stop watching Saturday morning TV and go outside and play with friends, etc. The show featured all sorts of ideas to build stuff, and play games with friends.
Ultimately healthy kids will use SNS to enable and enhance their social lives. However, many other kids will take it too far. I think I would have taken it too far and been completely mesmerized by SNS if they had come out in 1982 when I was 10 years old. Instead I was playing games on my ZX Spectrum and saving up for a 32k upgrade that would take my tape loaded computer to a MASSIVE 48k. Wow! 48k. I could never possibly type in a program that was bigger than 48k!
Posted by: Mark Brooks | Mar 17, 2009 at 03:23 PM
I bet in a couple of years time the online dating and social networking percentage will increase greatly!I think we're becoming too dependent on the internet that it's affecting our communication skills-it seems no one can carry on a healthy conversation with their mouths and everyone's so comfortable using their hands.
Posted by: online Dating | Mar 17, 2009 at 04:24 PM
I'd rather face the fact that the children are addicted to online games compared to online dating. They can go to such sites but not now. XD
Posted by: warcraft gold | Mar 20, 2009 at 02:27 PM