Tweens, teens, and phones: What Common Sense’s 2019 research reveals

Teens average viewing about seven and a half hours of screen media a day, not including screen use at schools. — Dreamstime/TNS

Is there anything more frustrating than hearing "fine" when you ask your kid how their day was? It's the same feeling – times 1,000 – when we see our kids on their devices and have no clue what they're up to.

Though many of us worry, the Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens, 2019 reveals that, just like a kid's experience of their school day, the truth is much more nuanced and complicated than it appears to the naked eye. What are they really doing online for so many hours a day? Does every kid have a phone? What's my role as a parent? Our research provides insight into these questions so we can help our kids navigate the online world and be the best parents we can be.