1. Joan Garrod Philip Allan Publishers © 2016 Media use among children and young people

2. Children’s media usage The research agency ‘Childwise’ has been following children’s viewing behaviour since the mid-1990s. Their annual survey is based on a sample of more than 2,000 children aged 5 to 16. The findings from the 2016 report Connected Kids have been described as a ‘tipping point’, with children switching from watching conventional television to spending more time online. Questions 1Why might changes in the use of media by children and young people be of interest to sociologists? 2Which other groups in society might be interested in such changes, and why? Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

3. Children’s media usage Connected Kids main findings More time is now spent online than watching television. On average, children aged 5 to 16 spend 2.1 hours a day watching TV, down from 3 hours in 2000. There has been a change in the way that TV is watched: 60% watch TV via a phone, tablet or laptop 38% do most of their TV viewing on demand Among 15–16 year olds, less than a quarter typically watch TV ‘live’, preferring a catch-up or on-demand service, or YouTube. Across the whole age range, none of the TV programmes identified as ‘favourites’, such as Hollyoaks and Pretty Little Liars, had been seen by more than 2% of young people in the previous week. Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

4. Children’s media usage Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

5. Children’s media usage Young people say that they go online for the following reasons: to watch videos to listen to music to play games to do research for their homework for social networking — especially older girls But however they access the internet, YouTube is the dominant destination. It is used every day by almost half of all children aged 5–16, most often via a mobile phone or tablet. They particularly want to see ‘funny’ content, but about a third watch ‘how to’ videos, including how to play computer games. Almost three quarters use YouTube to watch TV programmes, compared with 40% of this age group who watch via BBC iPlayer. Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

6. Children’s media usage Gender differences are apparent from an early age. Discussion points What gender differences would you expect to find in young people’s viewing habits and use of media, and why? How might sociologists explain these differences? Take a ‘straw poll’ among the people in your class. Are such gender differences apparent? Parents also treat boys and girls differently, monitoring some aspects of girls’ online activity more closely than boys. What reason(s) might there be for this? Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

7. Children’s use of media More gender differences On TV, boys expressed a preference for sport programmes, such as Match of the Day. Girls preferred reality shows, such as Made in Chelsea. Online, boys had a preference for gaming, while girls preferred communicating. There are also differences in the choice of social media services. Seven in 10 children aged 12–15 who go online have a social media profile, with Facebook the dominant choice. The use of Instagram has doubled since 2013, and is now used by 36% of this age group. A significant minority with a social media profile use photo or video message sites, or apps such as SnapChat. Among the same group, boys are more likely to have a YouTube profile (29% v 15%), while girls are more likely to have a profile on Instagram (42% v 30%), SnapChat (33% v 20%) and Tumblr (11% v 3%). Boys in each age group are over five times more likely than girls to say that they would most miss a games console, while girls are more likely than boys to say they would most miss a mobile phone and reading. Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

8. Children’s media usage Future trends The authors of the Childwise report make some future predictions, based on their findings. Tablet ownership among this age group is likely to increase, while ownership of laptops and PCs is likely to fall. Conventional TV viewing will continue to decline, being replaced by more on-demand and ‘binge viewing’ on tablets and laptops. There will be a further decline in the proportion of children with TV sets in their bedroom — this has already fallen from 80% in 2004 to 60% in 2014. Children will increasingly expect to access the internet anywhere and everywhere. This may even influence their willingness to take part in family holidays and days out. The use of portable devices will make it more difficult for parents to monitor and regulate what their children are watching online. Photo and video sharing sites will become increasingly popular among young people. Mobiles will become a ‘hub’ device, used to co-ordinate a variety of other devices. Philip Allan Publishers © 2016

9. Gendered use of media Useful links The following link will take you to an account of research carried out by the US Pew Research Center, with further illustration of the gendered use of social media, this time among adults. http://tinyurl.com/zlndpct The link below will take you to other research from the Pew Center, this time about ‘Teens, Technology and Friendships’, also with valuable information about gender differences in social media usage. http://tinyurl.com/prwqlnn Philip Allan Publishers © 2016