Today, the digital association Bitkom presented new survey results on the digital device usage behavior of children and teenagers in Germany. According to the findings, an overwhelming majority of 98 percent of children and teenagers aged six years and older used a smartphone or tablet. Among the 10- to 18-year-olds, 59 percent could not imagine life without the Internet. For this representative survey, Bitkom Research on behalf of the digital association Bitkom interviewed a total of 920 children and young people between the aged between of six and 18 years.
These are further insights:
- At 98 percent, almost all children and teenagers between the ages of six and 18 years used a smartphone or tablet. The screen time spent on the Internet amounts to just under two hours a day (111 minutes) on average.
- Average screen and Internet time increases sharply across age groups: From 49 minutes among 6- to 9-year-olds and 1:27 hours among 10- to 12-year-olds to 2:20 hours among young people aged 13 to 15 and 2:46 hours among 16- to 18-year-olds.
- A long-term comparison shows that children and teens are using digital devices at an increasingly early age: in 2014, 20 percent of 6- to 7-year-olds used a smartphone from time to time and 64 percent do so now. Smartphone use is even more pronounced among 16- to 18-year-olds, rising from 88 percent (2014) to 97 percent (2022).
- Smartphones and tablets are mostly used to write and receives messages (86 percent), watch movies, series and videos (83 percent), listen to the radio or music (71 percent), do reasearch for school or training (69 percent) or play online games (61 percent).
- Other respondents (38 percent) used it to learn about current political, economic, or social issues or to shop online (23 percent).
- Among social networks, respondents most frequently used YouTube (82 percent); platforms such as Instagram (54 percent) and Tiktok (50 percent) followed at a wide distance. For Instagram, however, usage increases sharply with age (84 percent of 16- to 18-year-olds), while the video platform TikTok is more appealing to younger people (63 percent 13- to 15-year-olds). Far fewer of the 10- to 18-year-olds used Twitter (12 percent) or Facebook (11 percent).
- When it came to sending and receiving text, picture or voice messages, WhatsApp dominated as a messenger service, with 82 percent of 10- to 18-year-olds using it frequently and another 10 percent sometimes. Snapchat was used by 52 percent frequently or sometimes to exchange messages, and the iPhone-based application iMessage was used by 23 percent at least sometimes. The fewest used Facebook Messenger (12 percent) or Telegram (eight percent).
Bernhard Rohleder, Bitkom CEO, commented: "The protection of children and young people must also be improved in the digital world. This requires not only education by parents and schools, but also better technical and human resources for the police and investigating authorities. At a young age, it is particularly important that media use is actively addressed and that parents engage in the digital world together with their children. However, educational opportunities must also be created to support parents in this. In kindergartens, daycare centers and elementary schools in particular, digital technologies must not be made taboo, but must be integrated into children's everyday lives in a playful way. Children and young people need a protected space where they can learn a healthy approach to digital technologies and address experiences with violence and bullying online. Mandatory training measures and digital teaching materials help educators create this space."
Source: Bitkom
More information and the study