Media Overload

Kids spend more than 53 hours a week using electronic media, a new survey finds. To avoid this overload, the Church says: “One should practice moderation and discipline in the use of the social communications media” (Catechism, No. 2512).

Media Overload

Kids spend more than 53 hours a week using electronic media, a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds, USA Today reported.

Electronic media are now “a part of the air that kids breathe,” said Vicky Rideout, director of Kaiser’s Program for the Study of Media and Health.

“Compared with peers a decade ago, young people spend 79 more minutes of free time each day listening to music, watching TV and movies, playing video games and hanging out online,” the article noted. “Nearly twice as many now say they do at least two of these at the same time.”

Rideout observed, “Anything that takes up this much time, we really do need to think about it and talk about it.”

The Church says the same thing in the Catechism: “One should practice moderation and discipline in the use of the social communications media” (No. 2512).