The survey also includes information about the home background of pupils - with signs that homework had increased in all age groups, less reading materials were available in homes and 9 and 13 year olds were less likely to be watching six hours of television a day and more likely to be using a computer.
As a result, the American living room in 2011 can often seem less like an oasis for shared activity, even if that just means watchingtelevision together, than an entangled intersection of data traffic everyone huddled in a cyber-cocoon.