There have been a slew of news stories coming out about a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The basic news of this study is that kids age 8-18 are watching a lot of different forms of electronic media. Far from replacing TV-- computer, game, internet and radio/mp3/cd use is supplementing it. Kids are still watching an average of about four hours of TV (programming plus movies) per day plus they are putting in over eight hours total media exposure, which is condensed to about 6 1/2 hours of real time due to multi-tasking with these media.

"Few would deny that media play a central role in the lives of today's children and adolescents. Their homes, indeed their bedrooms, are saturated with media. Many young people carry miniturized, portable media with them wherever they go. They comprise the primary audience for popular music; they form important niche audiences for TV, movies, video games, and print media (each of these industries produces extensive content targetted primarily at kids); they typically are among the early adopters of personal computers (indeed, of most new media) and are a primary target of much of the content of the World Wide Web."

Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds - Report

Comments: The report calls them the "M" Generation. I hope this generation evolves into the "E", or "Empowered", Generation. As I have detailed in my article on the TV Matrix, TV and to a lesser extent computer use with CRT monitors, inhibits critical thinking. This heavy use does not bode well for the future.