The path into the digital world begins earlier and earlier for children. According to a study, the majority of all first-graders are online. First comes the tablet, then the smartphone.
Doing homework on a tablet, playing a game on your parents’ smartphone: For many children, the path to the Internet begins at an increasingly early age. This is also a representative survey of the digital association Bitkom. According to this, more than 70 percent of first-graders (six to seven years old) are already online.
For eight to nine year olds, the figure rises to 85 percent, and for ten to eleven year olds, to 95 percent. From the age of twelve, virtually everyone is online (98 percent), and from the age of 14, it rises to 99 percent. For younger children, the path into the digital world often begins with a tablet computer that is used together with their parents.
Smartphone is preferred
But even in the age group between ten and twelve years, the smartphone is the preferred digital device at 88 percent. Among young people (16 to 18 years), smartphone use is at 98 percent, followed by laptops or PCs (87 percent) and tablets (86 percent). More than a third also use a smartwatch (36 percent).
The amount of time spent using smartphones increases significantly with age. Children aged six to nine use their smartphones for an average of 37 minutes a day. For ten to twelve year olds, the usage time increases to 107 minutes a day. Young people aged 13 to 15 spend around two and a half hours (154 minutes) a day on their smartphones. Users aged 16 to 18 say they spend more than three hours (201 minutes) a day on their smartphones. On average, six to 18 year olds spend more than two hours (127 minutes) on their smartphones.
Huge increase in smartphone usage
The popularity of smartphones continues to grow. In 2014, just 20 percent of first-graders used a smartphone alone or with their parents. Ten years later, this figure has now risen to almost 60 percent. Among eight- and nine-year-olds, the figure rose from 25 to 69 percent within ten years, and among ten- and eleven-year-olds, from 57 to 83 percent.
In addition to communicating with text and voice messages or making phone calls, listening to music, radio plays and podcasts, taking photos and videos, and playing games are among the most popular smartphone applications. 93 percent of children and young people aged ten and over also use social networks. YouTube (87 percent) is by far the most popular, ahead of Instagram, Snapchat (53 percent each) and TikTok (51 percent).
Many cannot imagine life without the Internet
The majority of children and young people between the ages of ten and 18 said they had learned something on the Internet (89 percent). More than half (57 percent) said they could not imagine life without the Internet. 46 percent reported that they had given false information online in order to be able to use certain services such as games or online shopping.
“What young people see and do on social networks also influences their personality development,” said Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst. “It is therefore all the more important not to leave children and young people alone there.” Parents should actively support children when using the Internet, he said. But politics and business also have a duty to strengthen media literacy and improve the protection of children and young people.
In May and June, 942 children and young people between the ages of six and 18 took part in the Bitkom Research survey online; the children between the ages of six and ten were accompanied by their parents.