A generation of multi-tasking British children are living their daily lives -- including eating and falling asleep -- to the accompaniment of television, according to a survey of youngsters' media habits. The flickering of the screen accompanies most of them before they go to school, when they return home, as they consume their evening meal and then -- for 63 per cent, far more than read a book each day -- in bed at night. The study of five- to 16-year-olds shows that four out of five children now have a TV set in their bedroom. 
So ubiquitous has television become that many children now combine it with other activities, including social networking online, flicking their eyes from laptop to TV screen and back again. Even if they are focusing on the television, young people are now reluctant to commit to one programme, with boys in particular often flipping between channels to keep up with two simultaneous shows at once.
"They flick from one to another and cannot conceive that they should have to make a decision. They are puzzled that you should put them in a situation of having to make one or another choice," said a researcher.
The report, based on interviews with 1147 children in 60 schools around Britain, found TV viewing now averages 2.6 hours a day across the age group, though one in 10 say they watch more than four hours daily. Some 85 per cent access the internet and 72 per cent have visited a social networking site. Communication has overtaken fun (eg online games)as the main reason to use the internet and study is far behind.
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