Children largely expand their digital media habits at ages seven and eight, according to Sesame Workshop and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Their media habits shift from being primarily TV-centric to encompassing numerous devices, including handheld videogames, portable music players, computers, and cellphones.
About 20% of 4-5-year-olds use handheld videogames, compared to 46% of seven-year-olds. Fewer than half of six-year-olds use the Internet on a particular day, compared to 67% of eight-year-olds. Twice as many eight-year-olds as six-year-olds have their own TV in their bedroom (59% vs. 30%).
Cellphone ownership grows from 2% among 4-5-year-olds to 31% among 8-10-year-olds. However, these cellphone owners aren’t heavy users. The average nine-year-olds spends 10 minutes talking and 20 minutes consuming media, such as games or music, each day.
As children grow older, they also age out of certain behaviors and habits. Half of children under five use an electronic toy, compared to 33% of 6-8-year-olds and 13% of 9-11-year-olds. Public TV accounts for 13% of morning TV viewing among those under age five, and after that, their viewing begins to decline; as they age they turn to cable networks.
All children still largely exhibit traditional viewing habits, with TV as the dominant medium. During the week they spend three hours a day in front of a TV set and four hours during the weekend. TV is so popular that 48% of homes leave it on even when no one is watching it.
Digital Divide
There’s a growing divide among children in regards to their access to technology. While older technologies such as TVs, VCRs, and DVDs, are universal in families regardless of income level or ethnic background, there are notable exceptions with Internet access and cellphones. Three in four white children have cellphones (76%) compared to 66% of Hispanic and 63% of Black children. Minority tween cellphone owners spend more time talking, texting, and using media on their phones than their White peers.
Three in four White children (75%) have home Internet access, compared to 62% of Hispanic and Black children; 60% of White and Black children age 5-9 use the Internet on a typical weekday, compared to 45% of Hispanic children. Black children spend more time online per session (41 minutes) than their White peers (27 minutes).
Half of children living in households earning more than $75,000 have wireless handheld devices, compared to 8% from families earning less than $25,000. High-income families are more than three times as likely as low income households to own an Internet-equipped cellphone (32% vs. 8%). Handheld videogames are a notable exception. Roughly the same percentage of children possess one of these devices whether their family income is less than $25,000 or more than $75,000.
Once lower-income or ethnic-minority families are given technology, their children are likely to use it, if not more so, with Internet usage as the sole exception.
Children’s Internet usage differs depending on race/ethnicity and socio-economic background. Children from higher-income families tend to use computers for creative endeavors such as making videos, whereas children from lower-income families are more likely to play videogames. [Technology/Media]
Contacts and Connections: Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Michael Levine, Executive Director, One Lincoln Plz., New York, NY 10023; 212-875-6510; michael.levine@sesameworkshop.org; www.sesameworkshop.org.
PBS Kids, Linda Simensky, VP Children’s Programming, 2100 Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA 22202; 703-739-5000; lsimensky@pbs.org; www.pbskids.org.
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