The title of the article is "Teens spend average of 87 hours a year looking at porn online" but it could just have easily read "Teens spend average of 165 hours a year working at homework online" - but how much attention would that attract?
(Geekologie writer says "I thought it would be more..." :-)
It is obviously an article written by adults that have forgotten what it is like to be a teenager. I don't claim to be a guru on the subject but I couldn't help rolling my eyes when I read "... for some reason they find it easier to go online to conduct their research than asking mum and dad for advice [on sexual and other matters]" Oh please! Twas ever thus.
There's a bunch more number such as how much time they might spend chatting (nine hours a week, 468 a year), how much time looking up diets, listening to music, etc.
I think the important take away is that a significant portion of their lives are spent online. Sometimes at things that are worrisome (the article mentions interactions with strangers and online dangers), sometimes at things they want to hide from their parents (but again - how many kids hid Playboy between their mattresses/under the bed, etc. 20 years ago) but this is also one of kids' main sources of information. This point should not be ignored by parents, teachers, or marketing. Unfortunately a lot of parents aren't equipped to guide their children through this and some go so far as to limit/ban access rather than try to assist in trying times.
Article at DailyMail Online.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment