If it seems like you're seeing more and more kids glued to a smartphone or tablet, it's not just a fantasy, it's a reality. New research (Connected Kids) from a UK research organisation specialising in children and young people finds that children aged 5-16 spend an average of 6 1/2 hours a day in front of a TV, video game console, mobile phone, computer or tablet. 
In 1995, children averaged 3 hours a day in front of a screen, according to research by Childwise. Twenty years later, that number has more than doubled to 6 1/2 hours a day. Boys are even shown to be spending around 8 hours (on average) a day in front of a screen, while 8-year-old girls spend 3 1/2 hours in front of a screen, the fewest of any other group included in the survey.
The study also finds that viewing on multiple screens is not just a behavior that only adults have as children also use multiple devices simultaneously.
“The main difference from the 1990s is that back then television and magazines were the main ways children connected to media, whereas today they have many different devices such as tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and so they spend much more time on screens,” according to research leader Matthew Nevard, who reported in a BBC article about the Childwise study.
Children also value privacy-enhancing apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat, the study found.
“It reflects the emerging image culture, where images are used to give a better representation of current moods or activities,” according to the research.
In 2009, Childwise found that children spent an average of 6 hours a day in front of a screen, and that a third of respondents said they couldn't live without their computer or tablet, according to Digitaltrends, which presented the study.
Companies are certainly aware of this trend of children increasingly consuming “digital media” across multiple devices. For example, Google recently announced YouTube Kids not only for the Web but also for Android and iOS devices.
