Commentary

Do As I Say! Parents Spend As Much Time Online As Their Kids

The Pot Calling The Kettle Black Award for 2016 goes to American parents. A new report from Common Sense shows that parents spend 9 hours and 22 minutes per day with “screen media.” The majority of that is spent with personal media (7 hours, 43 minutes) and only 90 minutes devoted to “work media.”
Parents are as digitally obsessed as their kids. For example, 78% of them think they are good “media-use” role models for their kids.  

Th upshot seems to be a little sorrowful, a kind of statistical proof that for all the do-gooding that parents like to claim, they’re just as addicted to social media and all the assorted digital etceteras.

"These findings are fascinating because parents are using media for entertainment just as much as their kids, yet they express concerns about their kids' media use while also believing that they are good role models for their kids," said James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense, in a canned statement.
On PBS NewsHour, he was a little less varnished. Commenting on the stats, Steyer said  “It was shocking. And they think they’re good role models.”

Or to put it another way, they’re as bad as their kids. Put as many exclamation points on it as you wish.

Common Sense employed GfK to survey 1,786 U.S. parents of kids aged 8 to 18.

To be kind, the attitude about heavy television viewing a couple of generations ago was not as forgiving as what we think of the totally absorbed Internet and social media devotee today. You were a couch potato if you watched too much of the boob tube. Television was the vast wasteland.
That’s not true of the Internet, or social media. I doubt anybody was ever denied a position, or ostracized on the job, for not being "sitcom literate."

The impact of the Internet and social media ranges from job seeking (LinkedIn) to average everyday communication, and of course, Googling for information.

So when it comes to the kids,parents are hard pressed to complain about their use of devices. It’s the future that’s right at the front door. Rather than seeing social media and heavy Internet use as absolute negatives, parents seem to sense that it’s a necessary part of a successful life even if it exposes their kids to porn or graphic violence (36% worry about that), “oversharing” personal details (38% are concerned) or turning into tree stumps (half of the parents worry social media impacts their child’s physical activity).  

They approve of tech supporting children’s schoolwork and education (94%), acquisition of new skills (88%) and tellingly, “preparation for 21st Century jobs.”

But “on the other hand,” Steyer said on PBS,  “they’re worried about tech addiction, lack of sleep, cyber-bullying, pornography, all the downsides. So, it’s a nuanced picture. And I think it reflects the way I feel as a parent of four kids, too. They have got to be there. And actually they have to understand social media. But I’m worried about what might happen to them.”

Common Sense launched a multi-year campaign to encourage families to stop using mobile devices during meals. According to this survey 78% of parents say mobile devices aren’t allowed around the dinner table, and 63% say there’s a similar ban at bedtime.

pj@mediapost.com

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About the Author

P.J. Bednarski has written for MediaPost since 2012 on media and marketing topics. He can be reached at pj@mediapost.com