Avg. number of hours people spend watching tv & playing games?

[AznBoi]

Can someone help me find credible stats on the avg. number of hours people spend watching tv & playing games?

I need credible data that I can cite. Please provide the URL so that I can refer back to it.

Also, any other statistics on how computer games/usage, TV, or technology on how they affect our society negatively would be appreciated!

I'm doing a research paper on how today's tech is affecting our society in a negative way. Thanks!

 

[Smurf]

Stats Canada has everything you need on television viewing for Canada. And more. I'm sure they'd have stuff on video games too. Do you need Canada? or anywhere else specific?

 

[AznBoi]

Stats Canada has everything you need on television viewing for Canada. And more. I'm sure they'd have stuff on video games too. Do you need Canada? or anywhere else specific?

The United States and globally. I've found a couple of stats but they all seem to be somewhat different. Should I choose the one with a higher avg. given that it seems reliable?

Even better, can someone please find stats that show how many people are addicted to technology in general? Should I just provide stats for a few tech devices (tv, comp, cell) to express urgency for this situation or what? Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[Smurf]

Oh god, you're one of those 'technology addiction' guys. I got nothing to say to that. Why don't you try finding the statistics before deciding it's 'urgent'

 

[Mk]

Can someone help me find credible stats on the avg. number of hours people spend watching tv & playing games?

Keep in mind you're definitely looking for kinds of people. In the United States it is going to be a lot more than the global average, which is less than one. Also, make sure you find it broken into age groups, since at 7 and at 15 there are going to be different TV:Video game:Internet (+digital music) ratios

I remember John Taylor Gatto's words when, I believe, he received New York state teacher of the year:

Out of the 168 hours in each week my children sleep 56. That leaves them 112 hours a week out of which to fashion a self.
According to recent reports children watch 55 hours of television a week. That then leaves them 57 hours a week in which to grow up.

My children attend school 30 hours a week, use about 8 hours getting ready for and traveling to and from school, and spend an average of 7 hours a week in homework - a total of 45 hours. During that time they are under constant surveillance. They have no private time or private space and are disciplined if they try to assert individuality in the use of time or space. That leaves them 12 hours a week out of which to create a unique consciousness. Of course my kids eat, too, and that takes some time - not much because they've lost the tradition of family dining - but if we allot 3 hours a week to evening meals we arrive at a net amount of private time for each child of 9 hours per week.

Good point, but the TV isn't watched for 55 hours a week, that's 8 hours a day—it's the average of the duration that the television is on. At my house my dad had the television on all day, but we didn't watch it for the entire day. It's just there so that you can watch what you want.

And amen to that, technology has a negative impact on the species.

 

[Schrodinger's Dog]

And amen to that, technology has a negative impact on the species.

I watch educational TV and current affairs programs such as news a lot does that have a negative impact on the species, that's a bit of a broad generalisation that I leave to the "TV teaches you nothing crowd" who are obviously not watching anything educational and therefore cannot judge.

Do you mean (I'm sure you do) It can have a negative impact, if your not all that fussy about what you watch and like vegetating in front of your TV watching Big Brother, or a selection of programs that are equally meaningless and vapid for longer than is healthy?

I'm taking it in context that you mean TV, and not other forms of media, because in that case it becomes even less tenable as a statement.

 

[cristo]

Do you mean (I'm sure you do) It can have a negative impact, if your not all that fussy about what you watch and like vegetating in front of your TV watching Big Brother, or a selection of programs that are equally meaningless and vapid for longer than is healthy?

Hey, don't single out Big Brother-- I enjoy watching it Besides, as long as we're talking about adults here, I don't see that television has a negative impact on society.

 

[Yersinia Pestis]

And amen to that, technology has a negative impact on the species.

Oh, yes, totally. The species would be so much better without agriculture, clean water, hygiene, antibiotics, ICUs, and worst of all: a low infant mortality rate!

Remember, these kinds of objections have been made to virtually every technological advancement made in the history of humankind. You can bet there was a guy next to the person who discovered fire:

"You know ug, I don't think that's a particularly good idea. I mean, it burns people sometimes. And it encourages people to sit down near it for long amounts of time, just talking."

 

[DaveC426913]

Oh, yes, totally. The species would be so much better without agriculture, clean water, hygiene, antibiotics, ICUs, and worst of all: a low infant mortality rate!

mustn't forget the aqueducts...




People who kavetch about the negative impact of technology should put their money where their mouth is. Live under a tree, where grass clothes (not even furs) and get your message out to the world by yelling (you can't even write a letter without technology).

 

[Smurf]

"You know ug, I don't think that's a particularly good idea. I mean, it burns people sometimes. And it encourages people to sit down near it for long amounts of time, just talking."

 

[Smurf]

People who kavetch about the negative impact of technology should put their money where their mouth is. Live under a tree, where grass clothes (not even furs) and get your message out to the world by yelling (you can't even write a letter without technology).

well now, let's be charitable, it might be the case that television is the only technology that's bad. I mean, there are certainly less useful technologies than others. I think the world wouldn't be so bad if we simply hadn't thought of using Fission to make a bomb. Maybe it would also be better if we simply hadn't thought of television.

 

[Smurf]

here's an interesting study by statscan on time use among internet users:
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060802/d060802a.htm

 

[Yersinia Pestis]

well now, let's be charitable, it might be the case that television is the only technology that's bad. I mean, there are certainly less useful technologies than others. I think the world wouldn't be so bad if we simply hadn't thought of using Fission to make a bomb. Maybe it would also be better if we simply hadn't thought of television.

Please think things through before you say them. TV caused a cultural revolution. It was essentially the birth of modern news media. TV is not a problem, being a lazy fatass and sitting in front of it all day is.

 

[ranger]

haha...This kind of reminds me of those who have weight problems and they blame the fast food joints.

 

[mathwonk]

my IQ went down aBOUT 500 points since i started watching tv. now that i spend most of that time blogging on PF, it went down another 150. (that now makes it negative, in case you wondered.)

 

[Smurf]

don't worry, IQ is only short-term memory, verbal knowledge, spatial visualization, and perceptual speed. You still have.. umm. I'm sure there's something.

 

[humanino]

I do not have a television. I already spend enough time in front of a computer at work, for the offer tv provides, thanks I'd rather do anything else. As for games, I can't remember last time I played a video game, but I do like other kinds, such as board games like chess, or go for instance...

 

[Evo]

I do not have a television. I already spend enough time in front of a computer at work, for the offer tv provides, thanks I'd rather do anything else. As for games, I can't remember last time I played a video game, but I do like other kinds, such as board games like chess, or go for instance...

I have go, but I LOVE pente, have you ever played it? It can be simple or it can become very strategic. I love it because, like chess, you need to be able to visualize at least four moves ahead, considering every move your opponent could make, but you're not restricted to the types of moves your pieces make, which make it less complicated, an excellent game to keep sharp while drinking unblended scotch. The local bar near the Johnson Space Center (NASA) was a hangout for those of us that loved to play it.

 

[humanino]

have you ever played it?

You are the one who made me discover pente I can not remember when I first mentionned GO here, it was at that time you told me to try pente. I especially like the D-Pente because it is more fair. Also, the game is usually less long than an entire GO game.

 

[Mk]

I already spend enough time in front of a computer at work, for the offer tv provides, thanks I'd rather do anything else. As for games, I can't remember last time I played a video game, but I do like other kinds, such as board games like chess, or go for instance...

I love the internet! Sometimes I feel like you could probably learn everything that anybody ever figured out.

I should probably stop playing chess by myself or with the computer and find somebody else to play with.

I never could figure out how to play Go! And what's pente?

 

[Chi Meson]

I love the internet! Sometimes I feel like you could probably learn everything that anybody ever figured out.

and then

I never could figure out how to play Go! And what's pente?

Anyone else find this mildly amusing?

 

[Evo]

I never could figure out how to play Go! And what's pente?

I have the actual game here. No one to play it with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pente

Ok I'll admit I played in nightclub leagues and was quite good.

And it's pronounced pen tay.

 

[DaveC426913]

The last electronic game I played was SimCity. OK, SimCity 2000.

Well, I really enjoyed the Myst series. But everything after that is whippersnapper stuff.

I don't know what it is about video games, but I just feel every second spent on them is a second of my life squandered.

It may be because I squandered a good portion of my teen years in bowling alley arcades becoming a (Williams) Defender expert. Once I achieved Lord status (rolled the high score on the machine) I was done forever.

 

[Mk]

Anyone else find this mildly amusing?

Okay okay, I couldn't figure out how to play Go even after I read a few manuals and the Wikipedia article on playing Go.

 

[Evo]

Well, I really enjoyed the Myst series.

I had Myst when it first came out, my machine was Windows 3.1.

 

[Moonbear]

Can someone help me find credible stats on the avg. number of hours people spend watching tv & playing games?

I need credible data that I can cite. Please provide the URL so that I can refer back to it.

Also, any other statistics on how computer games/usage, TV, or technology on how they affect our society negatively would be appreciated!

I'm doing a research paper on how today's tech is affecting our society in a negative way. Thanks!

As others have indicated, there are some false assumptions in your statements. You're assuming all TV watching is negative, or at least it sounds that way. As others have pointed out, in addition to a lot of mindless drivel on TV (and even that can serve its purpose...sometimes you just need to relax and do something relatively mindless to clear your head so you can attack a problem with a fresh perspective), there are documentaries, educational programming (the TV I watched as a kid was Sesame Street and The Electric Company type stuff), news media (not just the evening news either...when I was a kid, what happened in Congress was a mystery to most people; now we can tune into C-Span 24 hours a day).

Also, as others have pointed out, even when watching shows that are purely for entertainment, there is a difference between someone just sitting and doing nothing but watching the TV, and those who are doing other things with the TV on...if you have to fold the laundry anyway, it's no harm to have the TV on and watch it while doing something like that.

The types of games being played would probably make a difference too. Some require a lot of thought and strategy, while others are indeed pretty mindless. Again, while some people get carried away with computer games and withdraw from society (you'd have to show me they wouldn't have withdrawn for some other reason had the game not been there to convince me the game is at fault...would it have been any different if they had surrounded themselves with comic books or model airplanes or stamp collecting?), for others, it's a way of acquiring social interaction with others.

When you start out having formed your conclusion before finding the statistics, your research is going to be biased. It would be better to find the statistics and consider the open questions remaining before deciding how you'll interpret those statistics.

Just remember, every kid on here getting homework help from professional scientists is spending that time on a computer. If time spent in front of a computer were all counted equally as time using technology, is it a negative that they are here? Technology has brought them an educational tool that did not exist when I was a kid. If it weren't for this technology, you wouldn't be able to solicit assistance in writing your paper from us.

The United States and globally. I've found a couple of stats but they all seem to be somewhat different. Should I choose the one with a higher avg. given that it seems reliable?

A more objective/unbiased approach would be to use all the sources you've found and discuss the discrepancies. How did their methods of collecting data differ, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the sources, what's the range, what assumptions are included in the analysis, etc. The differences in the stats are what makes it a topic for discussion/debate. Are the stats including just the time the TV is on, or actual time watched? Is it a self-reported statistic, or did someone have a way to actually monitor TV watching? In multiple person households, how is the TV time determined for each family member? Might it be higher than calculated (i.e., if all members of the household watch the TV together and the calculation takes an average of hours the TV is on divided by members of the household), or lower than calculated (i.e., if it is assumed all members are watching the TV any time it is on, although only one person might be, or the TV may have just been left on when nobody is paying attention to it, or fell asleep watching it at night).

This will make a more thoughtful paper than just trying to find statistics to support a preconceived idea that may not be correct.

 

[laurelelizabeth]

Please think things through before you say them. TV caused a cultural revolution. It was essentially the birth of modern news media. TV is not a problem, being a lazy fatass and sitting in front of it all day is.

I agree. TV can be good, in small quantities. To learn what's going on the world, or not feel left out every time someone says a joke off Family Guy.

 

[Mk]

It was essentially the birth of modern news media.

Oh god. No! *waves hands!* *eaten by the movie monster*