New Survey Finds Kids Increasingly Online

The nature of where children are watching TV content continues to move towards online videos, according to a new survey.The report issued by Common Sense Media shows that kids watching videos online every day has more than doubled. Kids are also increasingly watching YouTube, with 53% of kids ages 8-12 reporting that they watch this platform the most.“This data is concerning because YouTube has increasingly been in the spotlight for allowing videos with inappropriate or harmful content to be accessed by children, even on its YouTube Kids platform,” said Melissa Henson, program director of the Parents Television Council.Here are a few additional noteworthy findings from the report:Kids increasingly using screen media – “Eight- to 12-year-olds now average just under five hours of screen media a day (4:44), and teens view about seven and a half hours (7:22) daily -- not including use of screens at school or the rapidly growing use of computers for homework (believe it or not, these numbers are not statistically higher than they were in 2015),” writes CSM Director of Research Michael Robb.Kids receiving smartphones earlier – “Tech use is aging down as young people get devices earlier. A majority (53%) of kids have their own smartphone by the time they are 11, and 69% have one at age 12. The number of 8-year-olds with phones grew to 19% in 2019 from 11% in 2015,” Robb wrote.TV watching has changed – “In 2015, nearly half (48%) of teens' TV viewing took place on a TV set, as the show was aired; today just 24% does. In contrast, viewing on mobile devices has jumped from 19% to 36% of all TV time among teens (the remainder is time-shifted viewing on a television),” according to CSM.The full CSM report can be found here: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/2019-census-8-to-18-key-findings.pdf.