STUDIES / RESEARCH: Children’s online experiences in socially disadvantaged families: European evidence and policy recommendations

Very interesting study by EU Kids online on children's online use and online expression!

Read on!

Over the last years the EU Kids Online-Network has presented a wide range of empirical evidence on children's online use and online experiences. Within this field special attention has to be paid to socially disadvantaged children, because they are more vulnerable to different kinds of harm resulting from online risks than other children.

This report summarises findings on social disadvantage from the EU Kids Online II dataset and from other studies conducted in countries belonging to the EU Kids Online network in recent years. This is complemented by results of a long term study dealing with the media socialisation of socially disadvantaged children in Austria. The conclusion provides recommendations on how to support socially disadvantaged children and adolescents in making better experiences with the internet.

Access and use are the main topics of almost all the studies covered, but for Europe we can state that a lack of access to the internet is not the key problem. This is different, however, for countries like Brazil or Russia. In Europe children and adolescents differ in the way they use the internet and they have different preferences concerning content, e.g. a stronger interest in entertainment.

The educational background of the family (which correlates highly with the economic well-being of a family) plays the major role influencing the different ways the internet is used. Children of lower educated parents are often left alone when dealing with the internet.

Full study

STUDIES / BULLYING: Cyberbullying Not as Common as Regular Bullying [STUDY]

Cyberbullying has become a critical issue in recent years thanks to the proliferation of social media, but according to new data, traditional face-to-face bullying is still far more common among today’s youth.

New research presented at the American Psychological Association’s 120th Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla. found that cyberbullying — which takes place online or via a mobile phone — isn’t growing as rapidly as once thought.

“Claims by the media and researchers that cyberbullying has increased dramatically and is now the big school bullying problem are largely exaggerated,” said psychologist Dan Olweus of the University of Bergen, Norway,in a statement. “There is very little scientific support to show that cyberbullying has increased over the past five to six years, and this form of bullying is actually a less frequent phenomenon.”

full article at mashable.com

Please also watch this video from Macedonia!

STUDIES / RESEARCH: Teens and their use of online video media

Young people are more comfortable using services including social media networks, text messaging and email, but how often do they use video chats and media facilities?

The latest research report provided by the Pew research institute Internet & American Life Project suggests that video and media streaming use is on the rise. The survey comprised of 799 teenagers aged 12 - 17 who were asked about their online behaviours and video-orientated activities. It was fielded between April and July in 2011. The survey found:

• 95 percent of respondents use the Internet in some fashion.
• 37 percent of internet users aged 12 - 17 participate in video chat — using applications including Skype, Googletalk or iChat.
• 27 percent of internet-using teens record and upload video content to the Internet.
• 13 percent stream video live to the Internet for other people to watch.

Social media users  – who make up 80 percent of internet using teens – were found to be far more likely to engage in these video behaviours than non-users, and teenagers of all ages were equally likely to use video chat.

According to Pew, one major difference between now and 2006 is that girls are now just as likely to upload videos as boys — 12 and 13 percent retrospectively. 42 percent of girls who use the Internet video chat, whereas 33 percent of boys do.

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ARTICLES: Children's influence growing in digital age

Digital media such as social networks and mobile devices are giving children more influence than in previous generations, a new book argues.

Distinguished Professor John Hartley, of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) at QUT, said the prevalence of 'new media' had given children's actions and choices more significance.

In his book Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies, Professor Hartley said that as children engaged with one another and wider society online, they exerted a largely unseen, but growing influence.

"For example, children's online actions are already being closely tracked by business to determine their preferences in order to satisfy their demands for various products - and thus influence the course of industry," Professor Hartley said.

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RESEARCH / NEWS: UNICEF study explores the social networking habits of young people

11 October, Pretoria - Ask the parent of the average South African teenager what their child gets up to in the evenings, and many will tell you that their sons or daughters are probably typing away on their cellphones, on South Africa’s largest social network – MXit.

And it comes as no surprise. A recent survey conducted by UNICEF in partnership with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, MXit, and the University of Cape Town, revealed that 30 per cent of MXit users admitted to spending most of their after-school time socialising on the platform. 25,876 South African youths recently took part in the survey, which looked at how young people interact on the social media platform.

"The rise of the mobile internet in South Africa means that more people, especially youth, are using social networks as key tools in their identity formation. This timely report provides an important piece of the puzzle to understanding the formation of mobile youth cultures; and exploring the role that cellphone applications play in the lives of young South Africans," says Dr Tanja Bosch, senior lecturer in the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town.

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NEWS / IT: Indonesian youth ready for social media

JAKARTA: Social media use is set for very fast growth among a new generation of patriotic yet pluralistic Indonesian teens, TNS studies have indicated.

According to the research firm, young Indonesians are not yet heavy users of social networks, despite the fact that Indonesia is the world's second-largest Facebook market and third-largest Twitter market in terms of reach.

Although 87% of Indonesia's online population have visited social media websites, just 14% use them on a daily basis - against a global average of 46%.

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NEWS / RESEARCH: Study shows new TV and social media trend among the youth

LONDON, March 9 — Young Britons have taken to a new television and social media trend that could have far-reaching consequences for the worlds of broadcasting and advertising, according to a study.

Specialist digital marketing agency Digital Clarity yesterday published a survey of 1,300 British mobile Internet users below the age of 25 that showed that most use a mobile device to talk to friends about the show they were watching.

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ARTICLES: Study says Internet makes youth more engaged citizens

New research challenges the idea of the slacktivist generation, claiming that the Internet and even social media con produce more active citizens.

If the digitally-ignited revolutions occurring in the Middle East have proven anything, it’s that social media in the hands of inspired citizens can be effective. A new study is showing just that: Put social networking tools in the hands of youth, and they are more likely to engage in their government.

The University of California Humanities Research Institute recently conducted a study that found high school students who used the Internet to research and enact their interests were more likely to become involved in “civic and political issues.” These results directly challenge the idea that the Web — particular sites like Twitter and Facebook — has made civic involvement a fad, and one that doesn’t inspire youth enough to actually do anything. Instead, it’s been suggested that this age group only goes so far as to help circulate causes, which has coined the term slacktivism.

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NEWS / REPORTS / STUDIES: Arab Social Media Report released by Dubai School of Government

Dubai-UAE: 07 February, 2011- According to the inaugural Arab Social Media Report (ASMR), social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will continue to play a critical role in organizing social and civil movements in the Arab world, especially among the youth.

A team of researchers at the Governance and Innovation Program in Dubai School of Government has been monitoring the growth and usage trends of such tools in the Arab World in 2010. According to the Report, the penetration of social networking tools is soaring in the Arab world. The growth is highest among youth between the ages of 15 and 29, who make up around one-third of the total Arab population. The report states for example, that the total number of Facebook users in the Arab world has increased by 78 per cent, from 11.9 million in January 2010 to 21.3 million by December 2010, with 75 percent of the Facebook community in the Arab region belonging to this demographic and driving its growth.

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REPORTS: Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of European Children.

Report: Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of European
Children.

Full Findings (published 13/01/11)

Full findings from the EU Kids Online survey of 9-16 year olds and their
parents.

* These findings are based on the answers of 25,000 children across
25 European countries, and are linked to key policy implications.

* The press release, executive summary in the languages of
participating countries, methodology and presentations can all be found
on the project website.

* Join the mailing list

To receive project updates, please join the mailing list if you have not
done so already. Join here:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/EUKidsOnline/MailingList.htm

* Project website: www.eukidsonline.net

Enhancing Knowledge Regarding European Children's Use, Risk and Safety
Online

This project| centres on a cross-national survey of European children's
experiences of the internet, focusing on uses, activities, risks and
safety. It also maps parents' experiences, practices and concerns
regarding their children's online risk and safety.

More than 25,000 children from across Europe (and one of their parents)
were interviewed for the study, EU Kids Online, based at the London
School of Economics and Political Science, co-ordinated by Professor
Sonia Livingstone and Dr Leslie Haddon, and funded by the European
Commission's Safer Internet Programme.

The EU Kids Online project aims to enhance knowledge of European
children's and parents' experiences and practices regarding risky and
safer use of the internet and new online technologies, and thereby to
inform the promotion of a safer online environment for children.

Countries included in EU Kids Online are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the UK.

The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media at
Nordicom, University of Gothenburg, is co-ordinating the Swedish
participation in the project.

....................................................................
The International Clearinghouse
on Children, Youth and Media
NORDICOM, University of Gothenburg
P.O. Box 713, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Tel: +46 31 786 49 53, Fax: +46 31 786 46 55
Web site: http://www.nordicom.gu.se/clearinghouse.php
Nordicom on Twitter: http://twitter.com/nordicom_news
Nordicom on Facebook: http://bit.ly/4AdtZ4

NEWS: Volkswagen And MTV Networks Present "MePublic" Social Media Study

BOTANY, AUSTRALIA – Sept 23, 2010: Volkswagen and MTV Networks yesterday presented “MePublic – A Global Study on Social Media Youth”. The international study gives an insight into media use and value concepts among the group of 14-to 29-year-olds known as “digital natives”. As the study shows, the young people would also like to see networking extend to the car, a trend to which Volkswagen is responding to by developing various apps.

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ARTICLES / RESEARCH: UK youth culture squeezes 9 hours of media into 7 hours of the day

The UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) which regulates more or less all communications in the UK has put together a 379 page report, its largest to date, on the habits of UK consumers. It has automatically gone for the headlines by talking about the indecent amount of time we all spend consuming media from consumer electronics devices from the TV to radio, broadband, telecoms through to our cellular handset.

But underneath the hype and the drama of a nation that spends 45% of its waking hours with their head immersed in such a device, there are many interesting factoids to the report, which can be downloaded as a pdf from the Ofcom site.

full article and more info

ARTICLES / RESEARCH: Too much, too young? (UK)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Society risks losing touch with reality in the debate about whether children are being exposed to adult, sexual content too young, because other agendas are creeping in "under the radar", a new analysis warns.

The comments appear in a new University of Cambridge study, which examines the current dispute about whether media such as music videos, girls' magazines and corporate advertising are having a dangerous effect on children by exposing them to adult sexual themes.

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RESOURCES / STUDIES: Teens and Mobile Phones (USA)

Daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months, from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of 2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. And it's not just frequency – teens are sending enormous quantities of text messages a day. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month. Older teen girls ages 14-17 lead the charge on text messaging, averaging 100 messages a day for the entire cohort. The youngest teen boys are the most resistant to texting – averaging 20 messages per day.

Text messaging has become the primary way that teens reach their friends, surpassing face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging and voice calling as the go-to daily communication tool for this age group. However, voice calling is still the preferred mode for reaching parents for most teens.
About the Survey

This study is based on the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey which obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 800 teens age 12-to-17 years-old and their parents living in the continental United States and on 9 focus groups conducted in 4 U.S. cities in June and October 2009 with teens between the ages of 12 and 18. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC from June 26 to September 24, 2009. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies.

Source - Full report

RESEARCH / STUDIES: Situation of Children‘s TV in Asia - A Survey Conducted by the PRIX JEUNESSE Foundation, 2009

This study gives an overview on the situation of children's TV in Asia. The data gathered in 20 Asian countries show the relation between productions that are produced in the country itself (in-country-production) and productions that are internationally acquired (bought-in production). It gives an overview on the type of channels - public or commercial/subscription - that are
broadcasting children's programmes, and examines what age-groups their children's programming is aiming at.

Introduction

Given the fact that TV plays a very important role in the life of most children, this research on the situation of children's TV in Asia wants to examine what sort of TV programmes are actually offered to the children in Asia. How much specific children's TV programming is available in Asia, in total and in each country that took part in this study? The study looked at where those children's programmes are being produced – are they local productions or internationally acquired shows.

The basic outcomes of this survey were presented at the Asia Media Summit 2009 in Macau. This research report offers data of the overall situation in Asia (meaning: all participating countries) as well as the data of each participating country.

full report

STUDIES / INTERNET SAFETY: Most children say parents do not control their internet use (EUROPE)

Most children say parents do not control their internet use

MOST CHILDREN believe their parents do nothing to encourage them to be safe online, yet most parents are confident their children are taking the necessary precautions, a new survey has found.

The Microsoft MSN survey of more than 14,000 people in Europe, including 556 in Ireland, found that 66 per cent of children said their parents did nothing to limit or control their internet use.

The corresponding figure for Ireland was 62 per cent. Just 7 per cent of Irish children said their parents used online controls or filtering software to block websites. This was one of the lowest figures in Europe. Some 14 per cent of Swedish children surveyed said parental controls were used to block websites.

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STUDIES: Daily media use among children and teens up dramatically from 5 years ago

Big Increase in Mobile Media Helps Drive Increased Consumption

Most Youth Say They Have No Rules About How Much Time They Can Spend With TV, Video Games, or Computers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth, according to a study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

The amount of time spent with media increased by an hour and seventeen minutes a day over the past five years, from 6:21 in 2004 to 7:38 today. And because of media multitasking, the total amount of media content consumed during that period has increased from 8:33 in 2004 to 10:45 today.

Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds is the third in a series of large-scale, nationally representative surveys by the Foundation about young people’s media use. It includes data from all three waves of the study (1999, 2004, and 2009), and is among the largest and most comprehensive publicly available sources of information about media use among American youth.

Mobile media driving increased consumption. The increase in media use is driven in large part by ready access to mobile devices like cell phones and iPods. Over the past five years, there has been a huge increase in ownership among 8- to 18-year-olds: from 39% to 66% for cell phones, and from 18% to 76% for iPods and other MP3 players. During this period, cell phones and iPods have become true multi-media devices: in fact, young people now spend more time listening to music, playing games, and watching TV on their cell phones (a total of :49 daily) than they spend talking on them (:33).

Parents and media rules. Only about three in ten young people say they have rules about how much time they can spend watching TV (28%) or playing video games (30%), and 36% say the same about using the computer. But when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media: those with any media rules consume nearly 3 hours less media per day (2:52) than those with no rules.

Media in the home. About two-thirds (64%) of young people say the TV is usually on during meals, and just under half (45%) say the TV is left on “most of the time” in their home, even if no one is watching. Seven in ten (71%) have a TV in their bedroom, and half (50%) have a console video game player in their room. Again, children in these TV-centric homes spend far more time watching: 1:30 more a day in homes where the TV is left on most of the time, and an hour more among those with a TV in their room.
“The amount of time young people spend with media has grown to where it’s even more than a full-time work week,” said Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation. “When children are spending this much time doing anything, we need to understand how it’s affecting them – for good and bad.”

Heavy media users report getting lower grades. While the study cannot establish a cause and effect relationship between media use and grades, there are differences between heavy and light media users in this regard. About half (47%) of heavy media users say they usually get fair or poor grades (mostly Cs or lower), compared to about a quarter (23%) of light users. These differences may or may not be influenced by their media use patterns. (Heavy users are the 21% of young people who consume more than 16 hours of media a day, and light users are the 17% of young people who consume less than 3 hours of media a day.)

Black and Hispanic children spend far more time with media than White children do. There are substantial differences in children’s media use between members of various ethnic and racial groups. Black and Hispanic children consume nearly 4½ hours more media daily (13:00 of total media exposure for Hispanics, 12:59 for Blacks, and 8:36 for Whites). Some of the largest differences are in TV viewing: Black children spend nearly 6 hours and Hispanics just under 5½ hours, compared to roughly 3½ hours a day for White youth. The only medium where there is no significant difference between these three groups is print. Differences by race/ethnicity remain even after controlling for other factors such as age, parents’ education, and single vs. two-parent homes. The racial disparity in media use has grown substantially over the past five years: for example, the gap between White and Black youth was just over two hours (2:12) in 2004, and has grown to more than four hours today (4:23).

Big changes in TV. For the first time over the course of the study, the amount of time spent watching regularly-scheduled TV declined, by 25 minutes a day (from 2004 to 2009). But the many new ways to watch TV–on the Internet, cell phones, and iPods–actually led to an increase in total TV consumption from 3:51 to 4:29 per day, including :24 of online viewing, :16 on iPods and other MP3 players, and :15 on cell phones. All told, 59% (2:39) of young people’s TV-viewing consists of live TV on a TV set, and 41% (1:50) is time-shifted, DVDs, online, or mobile.

“The bottom line is that all these advances in media technologies are making it even easier for young people to spend more and more time with media,” said Victoria Rideout, Foundation Vice President and director of the study. “It’s more important than ever that researchers, policymakers and parents stay on top of the impact it’s having on their lives.”

Popular new activities like social networking also contribute to increased media use. Top online activities include social networking (:22 a day), playing games (:17), and visiting video sites such as YouTube (:15). Three-quarters (74%) of all 7th-12th graders say they have a profile on a social networking site.

Types of media kids consume. Time spent with every medium other than movies and print increased over the past five years: :47 a day increase for music/audio, :38 for TV content, :27 for computers, and :24 for video games. TV remains the dominant type of media content consumed, at 4:29 a day, followed by music/audio at 2:31, computers at 1:29, video games at 1:13, print at :38, and movies at :25 a day.

High levels of media multitasking. High levels of media multitasking also contribute to the large amount of media young people consume each day. About 4 in 10 7th-12th graders say they use another medium “most” of the time they’re listening to music (43%), using a computer (40%), or watching TV (39%).

source and full report

NEWS / STUDIES: Young Swedes And Norwegians Boost TV Viewing Times (SCANDINAVIA)

The average daily time that Swedes and Norwegians spent watching TV last year reached a record 116 and 184 minutes respectively, up by 6 minutes for Sweden and 10 minutes for Norway compared to 2008. Youngsters aged 15-24 are the most avid TV viewers.

TV Viewing Times Increase

In Sweden, youngsters between 15-24 years old watched television 100 minutes a day, 12% more than in 2008 according to a 2009 report published by audience research agency MMS. The older age group 40-59 also spent more time in front of their TV (up 8.5% to 188 minutes a day in 2009), unlike the other age groups 3-14 and 25-39 that slightly reduced their daily viewing time. A research from the Norwegian broadcasting corporation NRK shows similarities within the Norwegian population, in particular the 20-29 years old who watched half an hour more television in 2009 than in 2008.

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NEWS / RESEARCH: Kaiser Preps Media Use Study, Will Give To FCC - Study will focus attention on shift to mobile, other digital platforms (USA)

Kaiser Preps Media Use Study, Will Give To FCC - Study will focus attention on shift to mobile, other digital platforms

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/6/2010 5:04:00 PM

The Kaiser Family Foundation says it will unveil its latest study on kids' media usage Jan. 20. It will then submit it to the FCC as way of comment in the commission's omnibus Notice of Inquiry (NOI) into that very subject.

If past is prologue, the FCC will pay close attention to the study.

The FCC's NOI cited findings the previous two versions of the same study (issued in 1999 and 2004) in teeing up the question of how it should modify its regulation of children's programming in response to the rise of digital media.

According to a source, the Kaiser report focuses heavily on mobile media.

The study, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds, looks at media use in 2009 by a "representative sample" of a couple thousand kids/youth ages 8-18, including on their use of TV, video games, the Internet and cell phones, according to Kaiser.

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NEWS. Junk Food Reigns in Ads on Web Sites for Kids (USA)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Advertisements for junk food may be cluttering many of the Web sites most popular with children, a new study suggests.

When researchers examined 28 of the Web sites most frequented by children, they found that the majority of food products advertised there met experts' criteria for "foods to avoid."

Ads for sugar-laden cereals, candy, soda or fast food populated a majority of the Web sites, which included sites one would not readily associate with food, like those run by Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network, among others, noted Dr. Lori Dorfman, director of the Berkeley Media Studies Group in California and one of the researchers on the study.

In contrast, of the 77 advertised products across all the Web sites, only five were foods that children should be encouraged to consume, the researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

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