Attitudes to Internet & Technology: Children & Teenagers
One in three NZ children aged between 6 and 17 years say they could not live without television, just under one in five would not want to do without music or mobile phones, and one in seven considers the Internet to be the most essential medium. This is according to a Nielsen//NetRatings report prepared for NZ On Air and others into behaviour and attitudes of NZ children and teenagers towards the Internet and technology.
Some of the main findings include:
- two thirds of NZ households with children under 17 at home have access to the Internet (others use it at school or at friends' or relatives' houses);
- thirty percent of 6-8 year olds and 74 percent of 15-17 year olds have been online for over two years (that means many are starting as young as four years old);
- half go online every day and more than three quarters who use the Internet access it at least weekly; and
- kids are spending 4.7 hours online a week. Among those aged 15-17 this figure jumps to 8 hours.
Younger children are more adept users with older children aged 15-17 making up the bulk of the "inexperienced" segment. Apart from using email (70 percent) and instant messaging (42 percent), children cite homework as the most common reason for going online. Playing games also figures prominently along with "other things for school" and music.
Children are often "multi-tasking" between different media, for example, juggling the net and their mobile phones, or having music/radio or television on. For more than 60 percent being online is a solitary pursuit, despite nearly half having computers in family areas like the living or dining room.
NZ lags a long way behind comparable countries in uptake of broadband with just one in five household connections being at faster than dial-up speed. This is less than half the rate of the US and Australia. Having broadband increases Internet use and a quarter of NZ parents with children online intend to increase their connection speed in the next year.
The research paper, "NZ eGeneration Study 2005; Kids and Teens Online", can be downloaded at: www.nzonair.govt.nz/ |
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