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53 Hours of Media per Week

Andy Arnold - Friday, January 22, 2010
FIFTY-THREE hours per week. For most of us in full time youth ministry, that's probably just about a regular work week. I don't track my hours that carefully, but I have some twelve hour days in my regular week, as well as some eight hour days, and every once in awhile a short day. I usually get at least one day a week off and I'm happy with how things work out. I hope that you are able to keep your work and personal schedules in balance as well. Is fifty-three hours a week normal? (Keep reading, I'm not talking about work weeks.)

According to a study released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation called Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds, this is the average number of hours per week that an 8 to 18 year old spends consuming media. The news release on the study was full of fascinating information.

  • 7:38 (7 hours, 38 minutes) - the amount of time an 8 to 18 year-old spends using entertainment media in a typical day.
  • 10:45 - the amount of content actually consumed due to multi-tasking!
  • 76% - of people studies have iPods or other MP3 players.
  • 2:52 - the reduction in the amount of time consuming media spent by youth that have restrictions placed on them by there parents.
  • 1:35 - the amount of time spent texting during a typical day! (Which this study did not include in the total amount.)
An Los Angeles Times article about the study quoted Becky Kirsh, a parent from Lombard, Ill.
She offered one example of how gadgetry can alter relationships with her four children, ages 9 to 15. In a simpler time, the car was an ideal place for heart-to-heart chats (captive audience, no eye contact).

But when her kids go right to their cellphones or immediately retreat into their headphones in the car, "it's no different than if they were in their bedrooms, with the door closed," said Kirsh, an educational coordinator at a local church. "That's when I really put my foot down."
When I'm on a trip with my youth group I have a rule we share what we're listening to by playing it on the stereo. I'll play any kind of music, as long as the kids vouch that it doesn't have inappropriate language in it, even if I don't like it. I also throw in music from our Lutheran friends as well! When I first started enforcing this rule, I faced a near revolt. Some students do sneak their ear-buds on, but they put up with it for the most part and sometimes I even hear them having conversations!

Have you noticed media consumption taking over the lives of the youth you work with? How do we respond to this study? What policies do you have in your youth group about media during time together? Throw some thoughts up in the comment section below. There is also a video released with the study that might provoke some additional comments or responses.
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Shelly Gehring commented on 26-Jan-2010 11:15 AM
As AIM for Youth and Family Ministries I have established our high school and middle school youth rooms and events as "technology free" zones. I have a box at the doors of each room so that as our students arrive they power down their technology and put it into the box. I also have fun, brightly colored signs, around the rooms and on the doors declaring it a "technology free" zone. Once the event / activity is concluded the students pick up their technology as they leave. The "technology free" zone policy applies to all adults who are helping with whatever we are doing, including myself, as well. The kids will always look to see if my Blackberry is in the box if I'm in the room with them. We do have a practice that you can petition the group for an exception but it is a group decision. Exceptions are generally granted if a parent is out of town and a student is expecting a call with instructions of some sort or I was granted an exception several Wednesday evenings in a row because my father-in-law was in the last stages of a 3 year battle with cancer. When I first introduced this policy at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year I heard much grumbling and complaining from the students and much skepticism from their parents but that only lasted for a short while and now it is an accepted thing with no questions asked. In fact, the parents continue to be amazed that I can get it to work. In fact some of them have adopted the policy at certain times in the lives of their families with success as well...one family declares 5:30-7:30 each evening as a "technology free" zone which includes no tv, no video games and parents and kids all deposit phones and ipods in a designated basket on the kitchen counter before they share the evening meal together. At our recent annual January lock-in event I received comments from the students themselves that they like the lock-in being a "technology free" event...they thought it made it more fun because everyone participated equally. Best wishes as you create your own "technology free" zones!
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