Teenagers and their electronics

Parents are finding out that their children are paying more attention to their cell phones, the internet, music, and television. According to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation, ages eight to eighteen spend more than seven and a half hours a day on electronic devices. Within these hours, it does not include the time that kids spend texting throughout the day. According to the Nielson Company, on average, teenagers text 2,272 text messages a month.
http://http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?_r=1
Usually kids will find themselves doing multiple things at once, such as being on the internet and listening to music or listening to music and texting. According to the New York Times, an eighth grade boy said that his days would be boring without his cell phone. Times have changed with children getting cell phones as early as elementary school to be used for emergencies.

Being able to use electronic devices has brought negative problems such as grades falling and the behavior of kids are changing. In a study, 47% of the heaviest media users (consuming more than 16 hours a day) had grades that were a 'C' or lower. While teens who used media for 3 hours or less had better grades. Having cell phones in majority of schools are banned and can only be used before or after school. A student said that they pretend they have something in their backpacks so they can answer their text messages. Recently a mother said that the reason she bought her son a cell phone with internet was because their family computer was not working and she and her son had come to the conclusion that he would be able to use it for homework. She said overall, he probably used 2% for his homework and 98% for other 'stuff'.

The studies have also found that 7 in 10 youths have a television in their bedroom. A mother would play Baby Einstein for her son when he was a baby and he was able to learn how to read and do math at an earlier age. She gives credit to the television because she knows that her son was able to learn from it. Now that her son is nine years old, she says he is "crazy wild" for video games. He does not want to be involved in extracurricular activities and she feels that it will hurt his social life with being able to have friends later. Statistics show that the heaviest media users are between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Electronics have both pros and cons. To me, it depends on how parents will let their children use it and how people use it in general. Since I've been in college, I have used my computer and the internet more than I did in high school. It is an easy communication to talk to teachers and other students while being able to do online classes.
http://http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/education/20wired.html?ref=education