Kids Now Spending More Time Online Than Watching Television

Children now spend more time on the internet than watching television, according to a survey of young Australians aged six to 13.

In 2016 kids spent an average of 12 hours a week online compared to 10.5 hours spent in front of the TV.

The online figure is nearly double the time reported in 2008 when the survey, conducted by research company Roy Morgan, began.

While television was still the number one entertainment of choice at home, internet use was expected to surpass TV in the next two years.

The results correlated with the increased use of mobile and tablet devices by children outside the home such as at school, on the bus, or when “out and about”.

About three-quarters of the children surveyed regularly used tablets, while 74 per cent of 12 to 13-year-olds surfed the web via a mobile phone.

The bulk of that age group owned their own smartphone.

The generation of children surveyed had grown up with the “expectation” that their entertainment was on demand. Two-thirds of kids watched videos via the internet in an average four-week period according to the survey, with YouTube being their favourite website.

– Amanda Hoh

Image by Marvin Meyer from Unsplash