Stowe Boyd

Connected Kids

I pulled some data from a presentation from the K5 Learning Blog. Kids today are amazingly connected, but less involved in the physical world:

More US kids aged 2-5 can play a computer game than ride a bike.

19% of kids aged 2-5 know how to play a smartphone app; 9% know how to tie their shoelaces.

More kids aged 2-5 can open a browser than swim unaided.

Kids aged 0-8 spend an average of 1 hour 44 minutes watching TV or video daily, 29 minutes reading, 29 minutes listening to music, 25 minutes playing computer or video games, and 5 minutes using new mobile devices.

Kids aged 8-18 spend 7 hours 38 minutes using entertainment media daily: more than 53 hours per week. That’s an hour more than 2004 (6 hours 30 minutes). Because they multitask [non-rivalrous media] they pack 10 hours 45 minutes into those 7 hours and 38 minutes.

65% of kids aged 0-8 watch TV at least once per day. That’s 37% of kids aged 0-1, 73% of kids aged 2-4, and 72% of kids aged 5-8.

Kids under 2 spend twice as much time watching TV and videos than being read to (1 hour 54 minutes versus 53 minutes per day).

For kids aged 8-18, live TV consumption declined by 25 minutes from 2004 to 2009, but total TV consumption went up thanks to the Internet, cell phones, and iPods. 59% (2 hours 39 minutes) consisted of watching live TV, and 41% (1 hour 50 minutes) consisted of time-shifted TV, DVDs, online, or mobile.

53% of kids aged 2-4 have used a computer, 90% of kids aged 5-8 have.

25% of kids are going online daily by age 3, 50% by age 5.

Cell ownership among kids 8-18 rose from 39% in 2004 to 65% in 2009.

7-12th graders spend an average 1 hour 35 minutes per day sending and receiving texts.

51% of kids aged 0-8 have played a console game, 81% of kids aged 5-8. 17% of kids aged 5-8 play console games at least once a day, 36% play then at least once per week.

27% of kids aged 2-5 screen time is used with new digital devices.

29% of parents have downloaded apps for their kids aged 2-5 to use.

iPod ownership for kids aged 8-18 rose from 18% in 2004 to 76% in 2009.

23% of kids aged 0-8 watch educational TV shows, 8% use educational programs on the computer, 7% play education games on new mobile devices.

sources: AVG (2010), Kaiser Family Foundation (2010), Joan Ganz Cooney Center (2011), Sesame Workshop (2010), Common Media Research (2011)

It’s a pile of data and no analysis, aside from the implied negatives of kids not knowing how to ride bikes, swim, or tie their shoelaces, or their sketchy parents downloading apps for them but not reading to them as much as they might.