Zach Linsky, 11, watches TV for 3 and a half hours a day and plays video games every other day. Zach, a sixth grader in Washington, D. C., is an American. But unlike many kids, he doesn't have a TV, VCR, or computer in his bedroom. He only has a boom box . The survey of 3,155 kids, aged 2 to 18, shows that they spend 5 hours and 29 minutes on average a day using some types of media outside of school, including 2 hours and 46 minutes watching TV, 21 minutes on the computer, 20 minutes playing video games, and 8 minutes on the Internet. The good news: The total includes 44 minutes spent reading. The survey also shows that those aged 2 to 7 spend 3 hours and 9 minutes watching TV every day and shows that 32 percent in that age group have TV sets in their rooms. Among those aged 8 to 18, 21 percent have computers in their rooms, 65 percent have TV sets, and 61 percent say their parents don't stop them from watching TV. Nearly 1 in 4 say they watch more than 5 hours a day. "Kids are living much more lonely lives than ever before," says Kay S. Hytnowitz. "They just disappear into their rooms and spend all of their time with these media."
A computer?
Zach Linsky, 11, watches TV for 3 and a half hours a day and plays video games every other day. Zach, a sixth grader in Washington, D. C., is an American. But unlike many kids, he doesn't have a TV, VCR, or computer in his bedroom. 