Uh Oh, Kids are Using Technology

Here we go again, ANOTHER study. This week, the most ridiculous study has been reported in just about every media outlet I visit. I heard it on Sirius Satellite, I saw it on the news, I read it in several news releases online, it has been emailed to me by friends who know my passion for the subject, and I even READ IT IN A NEWSPAPER. Remember them? Made from trees, recycled every two weeks, or used on the bottom of your pets' cages? Yes, I still read the paper three or four times a week. What else am I gonna do on the toilet. . . I guess I could Tweet, but that would be too silly. . . tweeting while I'm Tooting! (Corny, but I couldn't resist it.)

The study, funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation, reports on the increase of technology used by youth, and its seemingly negative effect on their progress as students. The report - Which is getting A LOT of press is the result of studying 2002 kids aged 8-18. In a country of approximately 74 million kids covering that age range, we are going to take stock in a study that is comprised of 2002 people? That is 0.000027 % of the population, but luddites (haters of technology and the changes it brings), and those teachers who have been "Teaching the same way for 30 years" will revel in this.

Check out the ridiculous chart on the right here to get a glimpse of the general results of the study. I can't believe that someone actually funded this report. I don't even want to know what it cost. I could have saved them a lot of time and money and made four or five phone calls and come up with the same results.

Considering that the iPod - THE MP3 player, was not released until 2001, OF COURSE more people have one today. Kids had walkmen and boomboxes before that, so why wouldn't they have an MP3 player.

I didn't get a cell phone until 1999, and only used it in case of an emergency. NOW, my iPhone is a mini computer that I can text, surf the Internet, take pictures with, OH. . . and it is an MP3 Player! (not to mention a portable movie player too.

Lastly - regarding this chart - with all of the time they seem to be spending on the computer, in front of the television, texting, and using other technology, they only spend 5 minutes less reading print publications. . . . 5 MINUTES!?!? I wonder how many minutes they spend reading online? Do you think it is more than 5 minutes? Hmmm Here is your headline:

KIDS ARE READING MORE - Just not paper-based books , papers, and magazines.

. . . . .5 Minutes. . . (head shake in despair)

OF COURSE kids are using more technology. More technology is available. How many more people are blogging and reading blogs today? Hey, I am writing one and you are reading it - Thankfully =) It makes me think of a funny parallel.

1913 Henry Ford put into operation the first assembly line for automobiles. They could build a Model-T in 90 minutes. I wonder if there was money wasted on a study of how many more cars there were on the road in 1919, or BETTER YET, the increase of automobile accidents from 1909 to 1919. . . DUH. . . Yes, I said "DUH"

Here are some of the so-called "Key findings"

With my comment followed in italics:

-Children ages 8 to 18 are now spending more than 53 hours a week (7:38 hours/day) using entertainment media. Ten years ago, that figure was 43 hours a week.

• We would hpe that those extra two hours are happening in school and our students are being taught to communicate and learn in our new technology-driven society.

-Television still dominates among young people, followed by music, computers and video games. TV watched online and over phones has contributed to television viewing.

•The operative word. . . STILL. . . OK No change here.

-Kids spend 38 minutes a day reading a print publication, compared to 43 minutes a day 10 years ago.

• Already commented on this WOW! 5 minutes. . . .Come on!

-Nearly seven in 10 youth have a cell phone, compared to four in 10 a decade ago. Those kids are using mobile phones for music, videos and other entertainment more than for talking.

•SO, the phones have more features which replace other items they used to carry around. . . Earth-Shattering!!!!

-When parents want to restrict or reduce media use, they can. But few parents enforce the rules they set.

• Point. . . . Got one?

-Nearly half of all heavy users of media platforms have C grades or lower, compared to 23 percent of light users.

• Most technology users have been traditionally viewed as "Nerds" so now half of them are and half of them aren't. Silly. . . .just silly

AND THE DUMBEST "FINDING"

-The biggest users of media are black and Hispanic youth in their early teen years

• WHAT??? - Nuff Said. . . . Where did they get their sample from, an urban school in Essex County New Jersey. I am sure, if we went to suburban Morris County, NJ we can find a sampling of 2002 students who are not black nor hispanic, use technology the same amount as the test stated, and are getting A's in school.

My point in all of this is to not only poke fun at the waste of money on an inane study and let's not take studies as being universal fact. Take the time to read the backstory of the study before you go to a party or are sitting in your company's break room and you say "You know . . .kids today. . . they are obsessed with technology. . . when I was a kid. . . AS A MATTER OF FACT, there was a study I heard about that blah blah blah. . . ."

I am hopeful that kids are embracing the new technologies, and that eventually, content developers and teachers will learn to harness the power of technology to empower our children to develop more of it.

CARE TO READ THE FULL 70+ PAGE REPORT? Click here:

http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf