Mobile tykes learn to walk, talk, use tech
What will Junior’s first text be?
Small children, like the rest of us, have gone mobile — tripling their time on devices such as tablets and phones in the past four years, according to a new survey.
Kids ages 0-8 spend an average of about two hours a day on various screens, as they did in
2011 and 2013, says the survey of
1,454 U.S. parents, released Thursday by the non-profit group Common Sense. TV is still tops, consuming an hour of that time.
But the survey, repeated for the third time in six years, shows a clearly shifting landscape — one in which 42% of young children have their own tablets and 98% live in homes with at least one mobile device. Children spend an average of 48 minutes a day on those devices, up from five minutes in 2011 and
15 minutes in 2013, the survey says.
“There has been a seismic shift in media and tech use by young kids in this country,” Common Sense CEO Jim Steyer said. “Kids who are still learning to walk and talk now have access on a daily basis to these powerful hand-held devices. … It has the power to reshape child development.”
These “true digital natives” will no doubt reap some benefits over time, Steyer said. But he and other experts said there’s cause for concern, especially for the youngest children.
When a child can walk around with a tablet, it’s much harder for parents to monitor and limit screen time than when that child uses the family TV or computer.
“Addictive isn’t the right word, but there is a sort of pull that the screens have for kids,” said Corinn Cross, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “It’s hard to stop using them.” Other key survey findings: The youngest children, under age 2, spend less total time on screens, 42 minutes a day, down from 58 minutes a day in
2013 — but the drop is not statistically significant. Low-income children spend more time with screens than high-income children do, about 3.5 hours vs. less than two hours. uLow-income homes remain less likely to have broadband Internet access: 74% connected vs.
96% in high-income homes. That can contribute to what some researchers call a “homework gap” — difficulty completing schoolwork that requires Web access. Nearly half of children use devices just before bedtime, despite science showing a link with sleep disruption.