Are Kids Spending Too Much Time Online?
Posted 07/10/09 at 07:00:38 AM by Paul Lilly
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This probably won't come as much of a shocker, but according to a new study from Nielson Online, our impressionable youth are hopping on the Internet at a much faster rate than either their parents or siblings.
More specifically, the study found that the Internet was populated with nearly 16 million kids between the age of 2 and 11 last May. That's an 18 percent growth rate for that age group in the past five years, compared to 10 percent growth among all Internet users.
Not only are kids tapping into cyber-space more often, but they're also staying connected longer than before. According to the study, children logged 11 hours of online time in May, up from 7 hours in May of 2004.
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Submitted by tkddan87 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 7:20am
hmm when you think about it, it isnt much of a shocker, an 18% rise in the 2-11 age group in 5 years...look where tech has come in 5 years..weve gone from single core cpus to 6-8 cores, www access is paramount to all other things...esp in college. homless people prize internet access over shelter or other necesities from an earlyer maxpc article. i mean heck ive been surfing the net since the days of a manual DOS input command to start windows.
Personally, if I were a
Submitted by I Jedi on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 6:13am
Personally, if I were a parent, and this is how I truly feel, too. I would allow my kids to surf the Internet anyway that they wanted because I wouldn't want to shelter them from the outside world, like a lot of parents like to do. I would feel as if I was doing them a disservice by not showing that the world is not all beautiful, as parents try to paint it. Now, this doesn't mean I'm going to put my 9-year old daughter or son on the computer and say,"Have at it!" However, when they reach the age of at least 13, then I feel it's time to start letting them see the world for what it is.
Oh, and I also feel that rather than tell them they can't go here because there is a chance of this happening, I would explain to them the risk of what could happen. Children, especially in the teen years, become very rebelious. This is a fact. Trying to tell them what they can and cannot do will only make them want to do what they cannot do. I'd rather show the risk and cause and affect and let them decide for themselves. This does not entail that I wouldn't protect my kids at all cost by making sure some pervert was doing something with them online, but that they have to gain an understanding of what the real world is like.In other words, it's a balance between the two. Both letting them explore the real world and making sure that you're in the background making sure some pedophile doesn't try and rape them.
Finally, the one reason I feel as I do is because my parents were, and still are, very, very liberal. I'm 19 now, but as a kid I could do just about anything I wanted. I remember bothering my Dad about wanting a drink of his beer and his finally gave it to me and I never had another fuck drink again, it was so disgusting. So, therefore, I did not feel the need to rebell and try and stick out from my parents because they didn't try to control my life like a Nazi.
i agree with you 99%. but i
Submitted by dracx619 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 6:30am
i agree with you 99%. but i would set limits. i dont want my kid for hours in the net so i would put like a time limit i guess and hopefully spend more time as a family doing stuff outdoors. i wish i could do more fun stuff right now instead of being stuck at home and work on the computer, playing games, etc. i get so frustrated. i cant do much else cause i dont have a bike, i dont want to drive way extra than i normally do cause im on a stict budget till november so im stuck at home and around my neighborhood for the most part. so definitly, everything else you said i agree, there has to be open communication and mroe of a hands on "teach' approach as opposed to "no cause i said so moFO."
Well, I have 2 kids and I
Submitted by gatorXXX on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 7:54am
Well, I have 2 kids and I set time limits, usually an hour each. They are 10 and 11 and I want them to be kids running about outside playing softball, football, tag, kickball, etc. I refuse to let them play on the PC all day and become couch and social networking potatoes. I also will NOT let them have free reign on the internet without I or thier mother present. You can do this without "sheltering" them! I mean come on, is not letting them view porn sheltering them? if it is, then DCF needs to be invovled and you taken to jail.
I also don't sit their behind their backs and watch. I trust them. But I also do check in on them from time to time to see what they are up to. You can use the internet as a great learning tool, and see what's up with the rest of the world, but ya know, they don't really care. They want to play their online games, check their animal buddies and look up things. That is all fine with me as long as it is in reason. They grow up fast enough and learn social behavior all on their own in due time. They don't need the internet to learn lifes events.
Submitted by I Jedi on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 1:36pm
That's true that they don't need the Internet to learn life related things and I agree with that. However, a kid who is sheltered from life will be less prepared for it and a kid that is always being restricted will be more so rebellious in the future. I'm not saying let your kid surf and play on the Internet all day, but don't treat them like they can't handle viewing an article that's on Fox news or CNN about the Iraq war or a murder investigation. The world, again, is not beautiful, like parents like to paint it out to be. I hope to someday have kids and I hope they grow up strong-minded and knowing how to handle the world around them.
Oh, and one more point I would like to make. Regarding my first statement about agreeing with you on "they don't need the Internet to learn" issue. Well, I never said that they did or didn't need it. The article is focused on kids and the Internet. If my kids don't want to use the Internet, then they don't have to. They can grow up however they want. Except, of course, being a rapist or axe murder.
Submitted by dracx619 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 7:59am
another good comment!
Submitted by Civilcaveman on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 5:52am
It is a lot safer and easier to track where your kids are going online now a days. So parents(like myself) are more trusting to let our kids go online. Especially now with Kidzui. Both my kids go on for games and videos as well as educational games. I get a full report on how long and where they have been. And Kidzui is a browser that only shows kid friendly webites and info. My point is, 3 years ago and without Kidzui I would never let my kids sit online without me right behind their back. They enjoy playing educational games online and I enjoy the fact that they are learning.
Submitted by tkddan87 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 5:06am
i would be interested in how the data was collected. for instance, is the information based on say, ip address connection time, or time logged on to an aim client(aim, msn, etc). If it is based on the latter it isnt uncommon for people(atleast on my buddy lists) to be logged in for days at a time. Especialy with IM capibility on smart phones or web connection clients like meebo.
Submitted by comptech08 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 4:21am
Wasn't there a recent study that said spending time on the internet made you smarter? :)
Submitted by Altec236 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 8:28am
There was a recent study that said surfing the internet made them smarter. But it matters what they are searching on the internet. If its vulgar things then thats how they will be taught. Also to much time on the internet makes kid unsocialable, breaking away from society in there little cyber world, they would never truly learn real life situations. And spending too much time on the computer also could cause weight gain.
wheight gain? Wha?
Submitted by nekollx on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 11:37am
ok how they hell do people like you atribute computer use to weight gain so frigging directly. Sure if you never exercise and only computate you can gain wait but its not a direct result as you infer.
Hell you can gain weight watching tv, or hell excessive vacuming...
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Submitted by Muerte on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 12:34pm
Okay, I'd like to see you aactually gain weight vacuuming. Because if you are, your not vacuuming right. or you have a tray of food with you at all times.
The simple fact of the matter is that the more sedentary things you do the less energy you burn. If you eat while not burning energy you gain weight.
Lets not be stupid and ignore a pretty obvious correlation.
Submitted by nekollx on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 1:02pm
I carry a 20 lbs bag every day and walk 30 minutes each day.
I'm over weight.
Weight gain is not JUST about sedentary habits but has to do with caloric intake vs burn. If you vacuum all day but your meals consist of 6 burger king woppers a day your going to get large, very large.
Similarillay you could run a hour long job each day with a 90 lbs midjitstraped to your back and still wind up overweight if all you eat is fried chicken.
AMENDUM: In fact obsessive gaming has been linked to weight LOSS, or are we forgetting all those koren kids who stop eating and play WoW until they die?
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by dracx619 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 1:38pm
ima put an end to this right now,
first off, he said COULD cause weight gain. so excessesive computing does not definitley cause weight gain, but it can facilitate it. thats what that statement implies.
while true that its not just about sedentary lifestyle, its a big part of it. even if one eats balanced, if one is sedentary theres a greater chance that said person wont be at optimal health and while the person may not be very fat, i doubt the person will be strong, agile, and most likely pretty flabby and also have a lil belly pooch or love handles.
while funny, and i think we know this, the vacuming example was kind of lame. vacuming all day isnt exactly a good exercise anyways so at most, a person will be, again,not at optimal or probably even very good healthso nekollx is technically correct tht a person can gain weight by vacuming a lot.
a person can run an hour a day with a 90lb bag eat fried chicken all day and not be overweight. a person who would run under those circumstances would have conditioned his body to burn a crazy amount of calories so eating crap wont necessarily make said person overweight. the variables lie in, how much fried chicken is consumed, is that hour the only exercise or movement all day, what kind of oil is the chikcne cooked in, etc.
case in point, i have a friend is tore up, big ass muscles, very toned and slim (weighs like 190 and hes 6') but he gets winded easy and has low stamina and a bad heart cause he eats nothing but greasy crap, smokes and drinks a lot. so he eats like crap but does a lot of weights and is not fat and in fact more fit looking than many people.
so to sum all this up, being on your butt all day in front of a computer doesnt directly lead to weight gain, but it can contribute to it and thats what i think altec was getting at. i dont think theres any point in discussing this part anymore. cause the statement is technically correct, a person CAN gain weight, but MAY NOT.
Submitted by nekollx on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 2:02pm
see my amendum
A compulsive gamer is more likly to loose weight, to Rot away, then to gain it
After all...
Eating takes away from presious Frag time....
------------------------------
Coming soon to Lulu.com --Tokusatsu Heroes--
Five teenagers, one alien ghost, a robot, and the fate of the world.
Submitted by dracx619 on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 3:34pm
ah those koreans. well, all asians in general are pretty much thinner than most americans so its a tough thing to corelate their gaming habits with weight loss/gain in comparison to americans. but gaming is a whole nother topic, i wasn't basing gamin for my argument. i was talking about more the "on the internet, watching youtube, forums, etc." type computer use. gaming, yeah, who eats when they are too busy fragin or being fraged
Submitted by gatorXXX on Fri, 07/10/2009 - 8:03am
Yeah! It was prolly an independent study paid outrageously by an ISP to get you to sign up for their service. You can learn alot by reading and studying which you forget overtime, but the hands on approach sticks with you forever. Like building a PC. You can read till your hearts content on how it goes, but you don't get that hands on, feeling the click and clucks, and the occasional blood spatter of human interactivity.
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