Did you know that a fifth of 3- and 4-year-olds in the UK have their own mobile phone? Or that one in five of the 8- to 17-year-olds who play online games chat to people they don’t know while they’re gaming? Those are just two of the surprising (and, for many, disconcerting) statistics highlighted by Ofcom’s recently published ‘Media Use and Attitudes’ report.
It’s well worth a read, but weighing in at 50 pages of fairly densely packed data, we appreciate that it’s the sort of thing parents and teachers might not always have time for. So the NOS #WakeUpWednesday guide this week is an at-a-glance breakdown of some of the report’s headline findings, from device usage to online spending habits
If you’ve ever worried about children seeing content online that’s not appropriate for their age, becoming the victim of cyber-bullying or naively giving out personal information to strangers over the internet, then you’re not alone. Those are three of the most common concerns for parents and carers in relation their child’s digital activities. That’s just one of the findings of this year’s ‘Media Use and Attitudes’ report – Ofcom’s annual ‘temperature check’ of how children and young people are engaging with the digital world and what trends we’re seeing emerge. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide brings trusted adults some of the report’s most relevant – and, perhaps, most concerning – discoveries.
