Having grown up in a world packed with gadgets themselves, most parents of younger children aren’t stressed about the potentially damaging effect of too much screentime on their offspring, a new US study finds.
A study of more than 2,300 parents of children up to age eight found that 78 percent report that their children’s media use is not a source of conflict or concern. Nearly 60 percent said that they aren’t concerned about their kids becoming addicted to media.
“Today’s parents grew up with technology as a central part of their lives, so they think about it differently than earlier generations of parents,” says lead author Ellen Wartella, director of .
“Instead of a battle with kids on one side and parents on the other, the use of media and technology has become a family affair.”
The researchers found that children in what they call “media-centric” households spend three more hours every day with screen media, such as TV, computers, video games, smartphones and tablets, than those in “media-light” homes. About 39 percent of families were rated as media-centric, while 45 percent were considered media-moderate, with parents in this group spending an average of just under five hours a day using screen media. Their children spent just under three hours a day using some form of media.
The study was released June 4 at the in Washington, DC.
