Statistics for Thought

Getting my grad degree in communications gave me lots of opportunity to study media theory and effects. As a result, I recognized some of the effects that come from media use such as watching television. Now as a new mom, I think it's more important to figure out how I'm going to monitor my kids' viewing habits. When we visited my brother's family recently, I liked how much TV they didn't watch - and I liked that they Netflix Rocky and Bullwinkle episodes for Saturday morning viewing pleasure.

This week I'm teaching the Television chapter of Comms 101. Here are some statistics I found while preparing that again make me think, so I thought I'd share them:

-Hours per day that TV is on in an average US home: 7 hours, 12 minutes
-Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66
-Number of videos rented daily in the US: 6 million
-Number of public library items checked out daily: 3 million
-Chance that an American falls asleep with the TV on at least three nights a week: 1 in 4 (I'm embarrassed to admit I significantly up that statistic)
-Average number of hours per week that American one year-old children watch television: 6
-Number of hours/week recommended by the American Pediatric Association for children two and under: 0
-Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54
-Percentage of teenagers who can name the city where the US Constitution was written (Philadelphia): 25
-Percentage of teenagers who know where you find the zip code 90210 (Beverly Hills): 75
-Percentage of “educational” TV that has little or no educational value: 21
-Number of violent acts the average American child sees on TV by age 18: 200,000
-Number of murders witnessed by children on television by the age 18: 16,000
-Number of ads aired for “junk-food” during four hours of Saturday morning cartoons: 202
-Percentage of Americans who can name The Three Stooges: 59
-Percentage of Americans who can name three Supreme Court Justices: 17

Here's a link to there are more statistics just like these: http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/parenting/pa0025.html