Ever wonder ho much time you have spent or will spend in front of mind numbing tv or online media or video games? How about your kids?
Today I saw an article from Family First about a new calculator that figures out your average weekly/yearly consumption – it’s sobering.
An excerpt from the Family First Article: (note the piece I highlighted in red)
“We as parents must be deliberate of what media our kids consume, understanding that it is forming the way our kids look at everything – self image, friends, parents, leaders, themselves,” remarks iShine founder and Chief Creative Officer Robert Beeson. “If we as parents aren’t actively forming the person our kids are becoming – make no mistake – someone else is.”
Families enter their usage of various media as well as their other activities into the calculator and the site will generate a custom analysis detailing how much time they spend using media compared to taking part in recreational or faith-based activities, family time and reading.
According to iShine, it is estimated 20 million tweens in the United States spend upwards of 25 hours per week either watching television or playing video games while they spend 1 hour a week in church.
George Barna, of The Barna Group which specializes in Christian cultural research, says the only activity kids spend more time on than using media is sleeping.
I input some numbers for our high school freshman as a guess just to see what would happen. The report it generated gave the number of hours a week and days a month total spent on each activity such as texting, playing video games, playing sports or reading. For this example, it came up with 69% of his free time is spent in the “virtual” world and 31% in the real world. Interesting to think about.
So take some time and input your family’s information. You might be surprised at what you find! Leave a comment if you would like to share your findings with others.
To learn more about iShine, visit their website where they have radio, video, music and other fun activities for your tweens.
You can find the calculator here: http://ishinelive.com/media-diet/media-diet-calculator/
You don’t have to give them your email if you don’t want – it will still give you the times 🙂
God Bless and Give with Passion!
Chris