Too much YouTube? Online video usage among teens is going through the roof, survey says

It’s not going to shock any of you with teens and tweens that your kids are rather obsessed with technology. But do you have a good handle on just how they’re engaged with different types of media and how much time they’re actively spending on their devices?

To get at the heart of it, the nonprofit advocacy for kids and families Common Sense Media surveyed more than 1,600 kids in the U.S. between 8 and 18, a follow-up to a similar survey in 2015. 

Among the top-level results – again, probably not a revelation to parents who practically need a crowbar to get their kids off YouTube – is that online video usage is going through the roof and has more than doubled in four years. The percentage of young people who say they watch online videos “every day” has gone from 24% to 56% among 8- to 12-year-olds, and from 34% to 69% among 13- to 18-year-olds. 

And the amount of time each age group spends watching online videos has gone from about a half-hour a day to about an hour a day on average.

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It’s also no secret to parents that screen usage more broadly is already out of control. On average, the survey found, 8- to 12-year-olds are on their screens just under five hours per day. It’s even worse for the teen group, who are spending an average of just under seven and a half hours daily staring at a display. 

Moreover, lest you think that your kids on the devices for things you approve of like doing homework think again. These screen time stats exclude them being on devices for schoolwork.

Less TV as a family

You may recall watching a lot of television when you were younger. And, if you're a parent, you may recall even a few years ago watching TV with your kids.

But the renaissance these days among adults watching TV does not extend to kids; the survey found that TV is losing favor among teens and tweens. 

Over the past four years, the percentage who say they enjoy watching TV “a lot” has dropped from 61% to 50% among tweens and from 45% to 33% among their older peers. And both groups watch about a half-hour less of TV shows on an actual TV today than during the period.

“I think there is something lost in losing even that kind of shared family experience,” laments Michael Robb, the senior director of research at Common Sense, who co-authored the study.

Younger kids are getting phones

One notable finding that emerged from the survey is just how young kids are getting their first smartphone. By age 11, 53% of kids have one; by 12, more than two-thirds have theirs. 

Maybe more revealing – and potentially disturbing – is that about 1 in 5 kids gets their first handset at just 8.

“That’s eye-opening,” Robb says. “That’s a lot of responsibility for a little kid.”

It also might cause some parental remorse. 

“We always recommend to parents to always have that conversation about what is expected before you give that smartphone to your kid,” Robb says. That conversation should spell out the ground rules around when a phone can be used and when it cannot, typically during homework or mealtime, or in the bedroom at night. Parents should also tell the kid what the consequences are if the kids break those rules. 

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Robb adds that it's up to parents to model that behavior. “You have to walk the walk and talk the talk.”

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