I was watching TV with my teenage daughter the other night when
I noticed that she had a computer on her lap, was watching TV,
and was texting on her cell phone. In the interest of full
disclosure – I also had a laptop on my lap (my cell phone was in
the other room charging, so I was not texting). Apparently the
nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. My wife was going old-school
– she was crocheting… But it got me thinking- Is all this
simultaneous media consumption healthy? The correct phrase for
this activity is “media multitasking”. A quick look
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_multitasking suggests that:
Media multitasking involves using TV, the Web, radio, telephone,
print, or any other media in conjunction with another. Also
referred to as “simultaneous media use,” this behavior has
emerged as increasingly common, especially among younger media
users. Time Magazine reported in 2006 that a study from 2005
found kids were still using electronic media 6.5 hours per day,
but packing 8.5 hours of “media expos