Lee Rainie's insightful presentation on our most ethnically diverse generation was an eyeopener. His analysis of Generation M and their media use will help you understand how they interact, participate in groups, and influence their surroundings. It's their world. . .we just live in it.

Mr. Rainie used some statistics from a Kaiser Family Foundation study of millennials and their media usage. It is a lengthy study (145 pages). Some of the key findings are listed below.

• Young people live media-saturated lives, spending an average of nearly 6-1/2 hours a day with media.
• The majority say their parents don't impose rules on them regarding their use of TV, video games, music or computers.
• Computers and the internet are rapidly becoming a nearly universal presence in young people's lives, although the time spent using a computer outside of school work still pales in comparison to watching TV and listening to music.
• They read about 45 minutes a day for pleasure.

This was the most surprising find:

How can they do this? Media multitasking is a growing phenomenom.

Jane Reeves and Karen Mitchell

Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES Library Automation Team (LAT) Members