COMMON SENSE 2022 ANNUAL REPORT | 5
Spending 30 minutes or more in VR can create over 2
million unique data points, from where and how long we
look at something, to whether our skin is perspiring, and
minute uctuaons in skin color. As a result, kids may
unintenonally share personal biometric data on their
private interacons and emoons. That data can be used
for myriad markeng purposes, including a new type of
biometric personalized adversing that can be more inva-
sive and exploitave.
Our report found that all of the privacy policies for these
VR headsets were either unclear or said they use data for
commercial purposes. More than half (57%) have no paren-
tal controls, and less than a third had any safety settings at
all. Because of this, not a single VR headset that we tested
in the market right now has earned our recommendation
for kids and teens.
VR can be a posive experience for kids in so many ways.
Families and educators can engage kids in new, immer-
sive experiences, from virtual-reality tours of historical
locaons to role-playing dierent characters in books,
trying out virtual musical instruments, and even learning
new science concepts by shrinking to the size of a cell or
exploring the solar system. As these and other use cases
accelerate adopon of virtual reality at home and in the
classroom, we need to ensure that any posive experienc-
es should not come at the expense of kids’ privacy.
It’s time to take a closer look at how social media affects
kids’ mental well-being
Media use for tweens and teens connues to grow at
a faster rate, and the landscape is changing quickly. In
addion to consumpon habits, our research looked at the
content of the media that young people engage with, how
they use it, and how they respond to it, focusing parcu-
larly on social media.
Our latest installment of the Common Sense Census,
“The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and
Teens, 2021,” found that teens (13- to 18-year-olds) now
spend nearly an hour and a half a day using social media,
but they have conicted feelings about the medium. Only
a third (34%) of teens say they enjoy using social media
“a lot,” compared with 62% who say they enjoy watching
online videos that much. At the same me, social media
use by tweens climbed during the pandemic, with the per-
centage of 8- to 12-year-olds reporng that they had ever
used some form of social media jumping to 38% in 2021,
compared with 31% in 2019. Considering that tweens are
not even technically allowed to use social media plaorms,
this trend toward younger and younger social media users
should be at top of mind for those advocang for safer,
healthier media use for kids.
Late this year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy de-
clared a youth mental health crisis, driven by the impacts
of the pandemic and beyond. For parents, caregivers,
educators, and policymakers across the country, kids’
media use is an issue at the center of this conversaon.
In 2023, we will take a deeper dive into the relaonship
between teens’ media experiences and their impact on
mental health.
The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens
The Common Sense Census:
Media Use by Tweens
and Teens
Media use has grown faster for
both tweens and teens since the
start of the pandemic compared
to the previous four years.
Kids as Young as 8 Are Using Social Media More Than
Ever, Study Finds
The survey, published by the nonprot research organization
Common Sense Media, found that overall screen use among teens and
tweens increased by 17 percent from 2019 to 2021 — growing more
rapidly than in the four years prior. On average, daily screen use went
up among tweens (ages 8 to 12) to ve hours and 33 minutes from
four hours and 44 minutes, and to eight hours and 39 minutes from
seven hours and 22 minutes for teens (ages 13 to 18).