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This is the updated report on Tween and Teen media use. Of note: The percent of young people who say they watch online videos “every day” has more than doubled among both age groups, going from 24% to 56% among 8- to 12-year- olds, and from 34% to 69% among 13- to 18-year-olds (see Figure B, page 4). 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 (from 25 to 56 minutes a day among tweens, and from 35 to 59 minutes a day among teens).

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The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2019

Kids' media preferences are changing as new apps and sleeker technology make it easier to stay connected (and be entertained) wherever they go. Just in the past four years, we've seen dramatic shifts in online video viewing, smartphone ownership, and more. As kids come into their own, the messages they see in digital media will play an even bigger role in their sense of self, their social awareness, their well-being, and their access to information on everything from politics to the latest viral meme.

This large-scale study explores how kids age 8 to 18 in the U.S. use media across an array of activities and devices-including short-form, mobile-friendly platforms like YouTube-to see where they spend their time and what they enjoy most. Combined with the data from the 2015 report, the 2019 census gives us a clearer view of how young people's media use has evolved over time. The results speak to the individualized uses of media and the increase in time spent with personalized content on social media and in online videos-and the way shared family viewing and other formative media experiences are changing as a result. Take a look at the infographic for highlights.

Want more ways to connect with your kids as they grow up in a world of media and tech? Get started with these Common Sense tips and tools:

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The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2019 | Common Sense Media

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YouTube and other online platforms are changing the way kids find entertainment, use their devices, and do their homework. The 2019 census builds on a 2015 study to show how media use among tweens and teens has shifted over time.

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5 Considerations for Online Privacy Settings

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OES Middle School Health and Wellness Resources

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Common Sense Media's Family Media Agreement

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Common Sense Media's Family Media Agreement

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Media Toolkit

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​Media is everywhere. TV, Internet, computer and video games all vie for our children's attention. Information on this page can help parents and pediatrician understand and communicate about the impact media has in our children's lives, while offering tips on managing time spent with various media. Today's children are spending an average of seven hours a day on entertainment media, including televisions, computers, phones and other electronic devices. To help kids make wise media choices, parents should develop a Family Media Use Plan for everyone in their family.

Collected here are tools to help pediatricians and health professionals understand and implement the AAP recommendations on children and media, and to discuss the topic with parents and families.

Please feel free to share these resources in your social media networks, websites and other platforms.

AAP Recommendations

​Resources for Parents

The AAP recommends that parents and caregivers develop a family media plan that takes into account the health, education and entertainment needs of each individual child as well as the whole family; and then follow the family media plan together, revising it when necessary.

Create your personalized family media use plan here: www.HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan

Share our Family Media Use Plan tool by linking to it on your own website or on social media. Use the images below to create great looking links and posts. Simply embed the following URLs in the image of your choice:

Family Media Use Plan in English
Family Media Use Plan in English​ (poster)

Family Media Use Plan in Spanis​h
Family Media Use Plan in Spanish​ (poster)​

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Children and Media - Tips for Parents​

​​Resources for Health Care Providers

Media and Children Talking Points (AAP member login required)

​Webinar on Children and Media: " Digital Technology and the Word Gap: Barrier or Opportunity?" Jenny Radesky, MD, FAAP, Assistant Professor of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School, offers an informative and entertaining discussion on the impact that media has on the developing minds of children, speaking here to an auditorium of medical students at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System in Chicago as the Council on Communications and Media Visiting Media Professor in 2016.

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​​Sample Social Media Messages

Twitter

Follow @AmerAcadPeds and @HealthyChildren for messages to share.

New tool from @AmerAcadPeds helps parents create a personalized Family Media Use Plan http://ow.ly/LznM3055hOb #DoGoodDigital

Design a Family Media Use Plan based on your child's age, health & activities http://ow.ly/LznM3055hOb #DoGoodDigital

Designate media-free times & locations for your family. More recommendations from @AmerAcadPeds http://ow.ly/CN5U3055gDk #DoGoodDigital

Need help managing your kids' media time? Helpful tips from @Baby411 https://youtu.be/NJYUVyYMeEM #DoGoodDigital

In new recommendations, AAP offers tips to help parents manage their child's digital landscape http://ow.ly/CN5U3055gDk #DoGoodDigital

Facebook

Worried about screen time? Customize a plan for your child's media use with a new tool Find out by creating a personalized Family Media Use Plan for your family with this new tool from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Questions about screen time? New AAP policy statements outline recommendations for parents and pediatricians http://ow.ly/CN5U3055gDk​

Digital media offers opportunities and challenges for children. Dr. Ari Brown offers tips to parents on how to guide their children in the digital world. #DoGoodDigital. https://youtu.be/NJYUVyYMeEM ​

Pinterest

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Media and Children Communication Toolkit

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​Media is everywhere. TV, Internet, computer and video games all vie for our children's attention. Information on this page can help parents and pediatrician understand and communicate about the impact media has in our children's lives, while offering tips on managing time spent with various media.

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Common Sense Media parent meeting resource

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Landing Page for the DigCIt resources from Common Sense Media

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Landing Page for the DigCIt resources from Common Sense Media

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For kids, digital life is real life. It's where they build friendships, take a stand on issues, and do so much more. Schools and educators with a commitment to digital citizenship can use this toolkit to find valuable tips and tools to share with families. With research-backed resources covering a range of topics -- from online safety and cyberbullying to media balance and learning with technology -- you can easily find and share articles, videos, printable handouts, ready-made presentations, and more in your classroom, on your school's website or social feed, or at your next parent night.

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Resources for Engaging Parents and Families | Common Sense Education

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Valuable tips, advice, and recommendations for families on issues related to kids’ digital lives.

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"But once kids hit adolescence, parental controls will only go so far. Just as in the offline world, successful parental monitoring strategies rely on children disclosing to parents what they are doing, seeing, and worried about. Strong relationships, active mediation, and open communication are key to keeping our kids safe online"

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Psychologist Candice Odgers explains why the use of digital technologies by adolescents is not a black-and-white issue. It appears to amplify risk for some adolescents, while creating positive opportunities for many others.

Sabine Gysi: Increasingly worried voices in the media and public discourse are suggesting that the use of mobile devices and social media is leading to serious mental health problems for young people. Is there evidence that this is the case?

Candice Odgers: There is no good evidence yet to support this claim. Of course, there has always been a correlation between symptoms of depression and spending more time online and consuming media. But this does not mean that time spent online causes depression.

In fact, in the most recent study that caused all of the panic about social media and depression, digital media use accounted for only a small fraction (less than 1%) of the differences in depressive symptoms among girls, and no association was found among boys. To be precise, 99.64% of the differences in girls' depression was due to something else, and the tiny correlation that was reported provides us with no way of discerning whether social media use leads to depression.

The most stunning thing about this reported correlation is how much panic it has created!

SG: What can the data tell us?

CO: There is shockingly little good evidence on this topic. Most studies to date have been correlational, showing that kids who are more depressed also report spending more time online. This is not surprising, and it tells us nothing about mobile device use as a cause of kids' mental health problems. However, if you look closely, most research being used to make the case that time on smartphones and social media use is harmful for kids' mental health includes only highly selected samples of adults!

A recent study surveying over 120,000 adolescents in the UK reported finding no associations between moderate levels of digital technology use and mental health. Experimental evidence is sorely lacking for adolescents. However, some experimental work has shown that virtual communication can actually help adolescents bounce back emotionally following social rejection.

"The smartphone may be a powerful mirror, reflecting back problems and potentially magnifying existing problems in kids' offline lives."

SG: What does the correlation between kids' use of mobile devices and social media look like?

CO: One of the most consistent findings is that kids who report the most problems online - for example being bullied, having negative experiences on social media, being solicited - are also struggling in their offline lives. Offline risk predicts online risk. It is unlikely that the phone, or kids' use of their phones, is causing many of these problems. Instead, the smartphone may be a powerful mirror, reflecting back problems and potentially magnifying existing problems in their offline lives.

SG: If smartphone and digital technology usage magnifies existing problems, it might also magnify advantages. Can we conclude that technology is good for kids, too?

CO: It is too simplistic to think of this as a "technology is good or bad for kids" story. But there is growing evidence to suggest that many kids are using new technologies in healthy and helpful ways. For example, a review of 36 studies published between 2002 and 2017 indicates that digital communication is being used to enhance teens' relationships by enabling them to share intimacy, display affection, and arrange meetups and activities.

SG: Does this mean we should dismiss concerns about mobile phone use and increasing rates of depression and suicide among youth?

CO: Absolutely not. To be clear, increasing rates of depression and suicide among young people constitute one of the most pressing health crises we are currently facing. Mobile phones and social media are pervasive in the lives of young people, and we need to understand to what effect. But instead of focusing on just one aspect - digital media use - we need to fully explore other potential causes of increased depression and suicide risk - e.g., increases in income inequality, discrimination related to sex, race, or sexual orientation, aftershocks of the Great Recession, and opioid usage in the United States.

"I sympathize with young people who deserve programs, policies, and interventions based on evidence, not fear - even in the digital age."

It may be tempting to blame adolescents' constant connectivity for unwanted changes in their behavior and health. It may be even more tempting for parents to pick up a phone and yell at researchers like me for sharing results they don't like. But before dialing, they should consider whether the problem that concerns them really stems from adolescents' smartphone use. As a psychologist and parent, I remain sympathetic to parents. I also sympathize with young people who deserve programs, policies, and interventions based on evidence, not fear - even in the digital age.

SG: Would it be helpful for kids' development if parents had more options for controlling their media use?

CO: Developing family media plans is a smart idea and one that is now supported by recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Mobile devices and media are here to stay, and parents need tools and support so that they can develop media-use plans that align with their goals for their children and the demands of their day-to-day lives. So yes, additional parental controls are part of a family media plan that will be useful for some.

"Coercive and overly restrictive parenting strategies often fail and are unlikely to be successful in managing digital experiences."

But once kids hit adolescence, parental controls will only go so far. Just as in the offline world, successful parental monitoring strategies rely on children disclosing to parents what they are doing, seeing, and worried about. Strong relationships, active mediation, and open communication are key to keeping our kids safe online; coercive and overly restrictive parenting strategies often fail and are unlikely to be successful in managing digital experiences. Perhaps not surprisingly, parents report more conflict with their children over rules regarding screen time than they do about what kids are doing online!

SG: In your recent article in Nature you talk about the dangers of the "new digital divide." Can you explain what you mean by this?

CO: Traditionally, the "digital divide" has referred to differential access to new technologies. That gap still exists, but in many countries it is shrinking. What we're seeing now may be the emergence of a new kind of digital divide, where differences in online experiences may be amplifying risks among already vulnerable adolescents.

For example:

In the United States, low-income teens spend about three hours more each day engaging with screens than their peers from more affluent families, and their online activities are different.

For example, higher-income kids are more likely to read news and search out information online than their more disadvantaged peers (see PISA study) and in our own research with over 2,100 young adolescents in North Carolina, we found that teens from low-income households are more likely to report that online activities lead to offline problems at school and conflicts with others (described in Nature).

Children from low-income families are also spending more time unsupervised and unsupported in the online world. As one example, a 2014 study of 3,500 children aged 9 to 16 from seven European countries showed that parents in wealthier homes are more likely to "actively mediate" their child's online activities.

In general, adolescents who encounter more adversity in their offline lives are most likely to report negative experiences online (e.g., cyberbullying) and to report that online experiences lead to serious offline problems (e.g., social media experiences leading to offline fights or trouble at school).

"Most adolescents seem to be benefiting from time online. But the different experiences and uses of digital technologies may be generating a new digital divide."

Thus, the real risk is not that the use of digital technology is threatening the health and well-being of all adolescents. Most adolescents seem to be benefiting from time online. But the different experiences and uses of digital technologies may be generating a "new digital divide," with new opportunities for the most advantaged youth but increased risk for the most vulnerable.

SG: How can we reduce this new digital divide? What recommendations can you give to scientists, parents, educators, technology companies, and policymakers?

CO: For parents and educators: Offline risk tells us a lot about online risk. The digital and social landscapes have changed remarkably for young people with the introduction of mobile devices and social media, but this has not created a new species of children. Many of the best evidence-based practices in parenting and learning do still work and the really good news is that new technologies may help us to facilitate these best practices. For parents looking for a balanced and evidence based set of guidelines, I would recommend: Media Moms and Digital Dads.

For scientists: Let's get to work and produce the type of data that will inform evidence-based policy, practice, and interventions with kids. This is a big and complicated problem that will require team-based, interdisciplinary, and open science strategies. But we need to move quickly, as fear is winning in the absence of facts. A commitment to transparency, open sharing of data, and team science will be critical to discovery and honest translation of the science in this field.

For technology companies: Advances in machine learning, digital mental health, and AI are needed to make the online world a place of opportunity rather than posing added risk for our most vulnerable youth. What children see and experience in the online world is increasingly shaped by algorithms, and these need to be engineered in ways that ensure safety and digital inclusion. Many technology companies are publicly addressing issues related to the relationship between mental health and the use of their devices and apps.

"What children see and experience in the online world is increasingly shaped by algorithms, and these need to be engineered in ways that ensure safety and digital inclusion."

Facebook recently pledged $1 million in research funds to help us better understand the "relationship between media technologies, youth, and well-being." The best use of these types of funds could be to develop tools, screening algorithms, and outreach strategies for the most vulnerable youth, those at risk of falling further behind as the digital divide widens.

For policymakers: Income inequality and the growing divide between the "rich and the rest" has been labeled the "defining challenge of our time." For low-income children growing up in the digital age, risks will be amplified and opportunities lost if we do not work to close the "new digital divide" and commit to combating online as well as offline inequalities. Here the focus needs to be not only on differential access, but also on differing experiences, and effects.

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Blaming smartphones, but missing the point

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Psychologist Candice Odgers explains why the use of digital technologies by adolescents is not a black-and-white issue. It appears to amplify risk for some adolescents, while creating positive opportunities for many others. Sabine Gysi: Increasingly worried voices in the media and public discourse are suggesting that the use of mobile devices and social media is leading to serious mental health problems for young people.

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Children and adolescents are not only exploring new social terrain in "real life"; they are now also faced with the complex task of communicating and building relationships via multiple social media platforms. This has led to worries and concerns about cyberbullying and an increase in feelings of loneliness and rejection, in a world where "like" is king. There is certainly some cause for unease about the influence of social media use on teenagers' mental health, given evidence showing vulnerabilities in adolescents' brain and social development.

Unfortunately, research on the impact of social media use on teenagers' mental health has produced unclear evidence, leading to confusion about the best ways to support young people. Many of the studies have benefited from large sample sizes as they are conducted using measures from much broader, previously collected surveys. Large, representative sample sizes are important in making conclusions about the general population of adolescents, however a small correlation in a large dataset is a relatively insubstantial finding.

"It is too simplistic to conclude that social media use has a negative impact on young people."

A national survey in the US involving over half a million teenagers found that for girls, an increase in symptoms of depression was related to an increase in use of social media. However, this relationship accounted for 0.36% of the variance in depressive symptoms, meaning 99.64% of the samples' depressive symptoms were not related to social media use. Small correlations found in large-scale studies show that it is too simplistic to conclude that social media use has a negative impact on young people.

Another issue is that some surveys might only include one question about social media use, which renders it impossible to make meaningful conclusions about what is driving a potential relationship between social media use and mental health. Based on the evidence from the large-scale survey data, we cannot conclude how s ocial media use is related to mental health issues in adolescence or the direction of this relationship, i.e. does using social media cause an increase in mental health issues or does an increase in mental health issues cause young people to turn to social media? This question is yet to be answered.

While the effects on children's and adolescents' mental health are not yet fully understood, there is no denying that social media plays a critical role in forming and maintaining relationships in today's society. Therefore, rather than urging parents and teachers to restrict or even ban social media use, we should focus on providing young people with the support they need.

"Rather than urging parents and teachers to restrict or even ban social media use, we should focus on providing young people with the support they need."

For example, the BBC recently launched an app that uses artificial intelligence to monitor the language a child is using, so that it can offer advice or encourage children to talk to trusted adults if it detects signs of negative mood. Such services could help to identify children who may be suffering from mental health problems, as well as those at risk of becoming victims of cyberbullying.

Considering the weak, correlational evidence, it is more effective to support individuals who are at risk for mental health problems than to impose a general ban on the use of social media for all children and adolescents. This approach will help us to guide young people as they navigate through their increasingly technology-dependent lives.

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Social media and teen mental health: confusing correlation with causation

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Children and adolescents are not only exploring new social terrain in "real life"; they are now also faced with the complex task of communicating and building relationships via multiple social media platforms. This has led to worries and concerns about cyberbullying and an increase in feelings of loneliness and rejection, in a world where "like" is king.

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Here are more links and an example of how this is messaged to an independent school  parent body k-12: https://bulletin.punahou.edu/parents-guide-to-tiktok/
https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/what-tiktok-guide-clueless-parents-ncna1066466
https://smartsocial.com/tiktok-app-guide-parents/

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What is TikTok? How safe is TikTok? How does TikTok work? Is TikTok appropriate for kids? What age is TikTok recommended for? Can kids under 13 use TikTok? How can you make your TikTok account private? How can I use TikTok with my kids? How do you do a duet on TikTok?