Just in case you missed the link to the Global Kids report, I pulled a few choice quoted. Their sample size is extremely small, and these are all teens who spend lots of time online, so I don't think it's representative of "all teens" -- but it's always interesting to hear how teens express themselves and their own relationship to digital media...unfiltered.

"I'll be frank, with me it's how much time do I not spend using digital media, and I can't even say while i sleep, because I have Mp3's I got from internet that i play as i sleep. On any given day I'd say there is about 2 hours that I don't use it. It has become so integrated into my life, that I think I would break down if I did not have it for even a week or two. Let alone a few months. It's more that I'm so integrated into online communities that it's like going 2 weeks with out talking to any of your friends, with no books or anything."

'It's pretty much all my free time. I use most of it sitting at the computer, the rest watching TV. Well I do occasionally do something else, but you get the point. It's pretty much 24/7."

"I'd say that I'm media savvy-- not addicted, though a few months without any form of digital media would be challenging. It's good to have other hobbies; I myself take yoga, do a lot of reading, sketching and writing."

"Well I have a cell phone, and I have to admit that I am a text-a-holic. Well not at the moment because my sister is using it. But in the past, in the middle of the night and also the day, all I would do is text text text.. even during school. But I think i'm over that for now."

"If video games were serious and real, then I probably wouldn't play them as much. When you play a game, its fun because you can do things you could never do in real life. Of course, there are war games, but those aren't very real. They mainly focus on shooting."

"Yes I have used many sources on the internet that were not credible, and I have been given Fs on multiple occasions. It is really embarrassing, and it has made me mad and I have started using minimal website information. I have used some sources but for the most part I just Wikipedia. It is the most trustable source that I have found."

Posted by anastasia