We knew kids were on their phones all the time, but new research reveals just how much time they spend on them. A study from the nonprofit Common Sense Media looks at phone use among a “diverse group” of 203 kids between the ages of 11 and 17. And experts call the results “startling.”
Researchers say smartphones “have become a constant companion” for the tweens and teens. The study finds:
- Kids spend a median of 4.5-hours a day on their phone, but some spend as much as 16 hours.
- Most teens frequently check their phones, anywhere from two to 498 times a day.
- Adolescents tend to check more than 100 times a day.
- Nearly all the kids in the study - 97% of them - use their phones during school hours and almost 60% of them use their phones between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. on school nights.
- Social media is where they’re spending most of their screen time, followed by YouTube and gaming.
- Teens spend an average of 20 minutes a night on their phones, but some spend as much as five hours.
- While 67% of kids in the study picked up their phones on school nights, most only did it once.
- More than half of the tweens and teens in the study get 237 notifications a day, but some get as many as 45-hundred a day.
- Nearly a quarter (23%) of the notifications happen during school hours and the majority of notifications come from social media apps including Snapchat and TikTok.
- Compared to other social media apps, teens are more likely to spend several hours a day on TikTok, with some spending up to seven hours on the app daily.
- TikTok is also the most popular app used by 11- and 12-year-olds.
- About two-thirds (68%) of the participants under age 13 use social media and have at least one app that’s rated “teen” or higher, which gives them access to “age-inappropriate experiences,” according to the study.
Source: NY Post