Parents beware: SC teens watch exactly how much TV daily? What a new study reveals
The amount of allotted screen time among the youth in the U.S. has been a controversial topic in recent years.
With the recent soar in technological advances, teenagers’ screen time has continued to rise.
The rise in technology use and dependence can cause teens to fall into bad habits, poor lifestyles, sleep deprivation and become exposed to explicit content or other hidden material their parents wouldn’t normally allow.
As it turns out, according to a recent study conducted by Enso Superfoods, South Carolina ranks ninth for most “TV-obsessed teens” in the U.S. — with 21.5% of teens in the Palmetto State watching more than 3 hours of television each day.
Why is this not necessarily a good thing?
More screen time and television leads to loneliness, materialism, insecurity and comparison, according to the University of California, Berkeley Greater Good Magazine.
In addition, Nemours KidsHealth details, “teens spend a lot of time in front of screens. But too much media use can interfere with getting enough exercise, doing homework, being with friends and spending time with family. It also can contribute to obesity, attention and learning problems, and sleep problems.”
With the growing need for screens to finish homework, watch school lessons and communicate with their peers, is the added hours of television, video games and social media too much?
Although television was once a Saturday morning liberty for teens and young children, now shows are suited for young adults nearly 24 hours a day.
According to OSF Healthcare, pediatricians generally recommend the following guidelines for screen time among youth:
Under 2 years old: Zero screen time, except for video chatting with family or friends.
2-5 years old: No more than 1 hour per day of screen time co-viewing with a parent or sibling.
5-17 years old: Generally no more than 2 hours of screen time per day, except for homework.
South Carolina teens reportedly watch on average at least 1 hour more than this recommended time limit.
However, Enso Superfoods reported that eight more states had teens that watched more television than South Carolina.
To find these results, the company used data collected by the CDC on television-related habits of adolescents nationwide and ranked each state according to the percentage of teens that watched 3 or more hours each day.
From this data, Mississippi teens were found to watch the most television in the country with over 27% of high school aged students reporting to watch at least 3 hours during school days, according to the report.
Also, seven of the top 10 states with the ‘most TV-obsessed teens,’ which were Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and South Carolina, were all located in the Southern part of the US, the study revealed.
This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
