It’s no surprise to anyone that teenagers spend a whole lot of time glued to their screens. But how much time? According to the folks at version, the average teen spends between 5 to 6 hours on activities like gaming, streaming, video calls.
The company surveyed kids between 15 and 18 in all fifty states plus the District of Columbia.
The states with the most screen time are:
- Mississippi 6:11:42
- Arkansas 5:54:00
- Alabama 5:53:24
- Louisiana 5:52:12
- Florida 5:42:54
- Nevada 5:40:48
- Washington 5:39:42
- Missouri 5:38:42
- Maryland 5:36:18
- Georgia 5:33:00
Contrast that with the states where teens spend the least amount of time glued to their screens:
- Alaska 4:14:06
- Vermont 4:37:30
- Hawaii 4:37:48
- District of Columbia 4:37:48
- Wyoming 4:40:48
- North Dakota 4:46:48
- Utah 4:51:00
- Rhode Island 4:56:06
- South Dakota 4:58:06
- Montana 4:58:28
There’s a full two hours a day difference between the screen habits of teens in Alaska and Mississippi.
Previous studies have linked depression, obesity, and poor social skills to too much screen time. At one point, the the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested no more than 2 hours a day of screen time for kids.
Those recommendations were updated to instead make sure children get plenty of physical activity, sleep, and unplugged downtime. Obviously, with virtual learning in place in much of the country, most kids will have several mandatory hours in front of a screen each and every day.
To check out where your state stands, you can follow this link: https://go.verizon.com/resources/teens-with-the-most-screen-time-per-state/