A study performed by the University of Southern California’s Center for the Digital Future found that 28 percent of Americans interviewed said they have been spending less time with members of their families. This is well over twice the 11% who said the same in 2006.

An alarming 44 percent of Internet users said they were “sometimes” or “often” ignored because another member of the household spends too much time online. Barely behind the 48 percent that said they were ignored because others spend too much time watching TV.

While these survey results aren’t surprising, they are a bit unsettling. For years our kids had to compete with our work, our friends, our TV time, and now they have to compete with the never-ending World Wide Web and all that it offers. How do you react when your wife or child approaches you while you’re online? Are those hours spent on social networks really more important than spending time playing or reading with your child?

As a bonafide internet junky I’m as guilty as anyone else of letting my online “life” interfere with real life and what’s truly important.

For more information about the study and some other perspectives visit:

Center for the Digital Future – (only highlights of the report)
Christian Post
Internet Use Cuts Into Family Time