Growing up with the Media

Getting Started

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This age group is characteristic in their access to and ownership of electronic devices. According to The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens conducted in the USA 88% of youth aged 13-18 owned a smartphone in 2021 whereas for the age group computer was owned by 64% of youth between 13-18 years old. The European study EU Kids Online 2020 Survey reports that 68% of tweens aged 12-14 use a smartphone multiple times a day to access the internet. This percentage increases as for youth aged 15-16 it is 81%.

The time spent using digital media also changes with age. According to The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens the age group 13-18 spent daily 8 hours and 39 minutes on average with screen media use in 2021. For eight to twelve-year-olds, this number was 5 hours and 33 minutes. The EU Kids Online 2020 Survey focused on researching the time that kids and youth spend online. They report that for 12-14-year olds this is 192 minutes on average (a little above 3 hours). For the age group of 15-16-year-olds, it is 229 minutes (a little under 4 hours). In comparison to 9 to 10-year-olds the average time spent online nearly doubles for children between 14 to 16.

Learn More

There are two major studies introduced in this module. First is The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Tweens and Teens. The Common Sense Census is American-based research focused on different age groups. The report provided in this module focuses on children from the age groups 8 to 12 – tweens, and 13 to 18 – teens. Unlike other research mentioned here, The Common Sense Census focuses on consumption patterns of all types of media both online and offline, on-screen and off-screen. The research focuses on the total time spent consuming specific media and devices used. It provides age group comparisons that allow for the identification of the main differences and shifts between tweens and teens. Go through the pages 15 to 34 to get an overview of the key findings. Focus on what the dominant media activities are in terms of daily use and time spent with them on average. On page 31 you can also learn about the popularity of video and social media platforms among this age group.

From research conducted in Europe, we have chosen The EU Kids Online Survey. The EU Kids Online Survey focuses on children's online activities, opportunities, risks, and safety across several European countries. Go through pages 18-34 to get an overview of the findings on children's media habits. The EU Kids Online 2020 Survey report contains a brief country profile for each of the countries that participated in the research as well. For country-specific results of the survey, you can have a look at the results provided on pages 137-156 and focus on your country of origin.

Exercise

Media use is changing through time but also across different age groups. Based on the content recommended in the previous section, try to summarize the following information:

How much time do children falling in the age group 13-18 spend consuming media? How does the time spent with media consumption change based on age?
What are the dominant media types/platforms that children aged 13-18 use?
There are various ways to engage with media e.g. watching, playing, chatting, and listening. Name different media types/platforms that children aged 13-18 use for different activities.

What you learn in this course

Name reliable national sources with studies on the media use behaviour of young people aged 13 to 18.
Classify the results of the studies and make basic statements on the media use behaviour of 13 to 18 year-olds. Participants can assign the correct statements for this age group from given statements on media use behaviour.
Explain which media young people between the ages of 13 and 18 use alone or with their families, which activities they pursue in everyday life, how much time they spend using the media, which content (series, characters, games, apps) is popular with this age group and correctly allocate this knowledge to the age group.
Recognise and deduce independently on the basis of given data and information in which areas media education is necessary. Participants can assign potentials for action to study contents.

Get ready: Tips for MediaParent consultants

Within each country, the nation-based research is specific based on its core focus. Within the Czech Republic, we recommend you to focus on the activity of the Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society as they focus on the research of the youth and digital media. They also stand behind The EU Kids Online 2020 Survey. Have a look at their reports (as these are usually openly accessible) and choose from the topics most relevant to your parent's evening.

An interesting part of The EU Kids Online 2020 Survey is the focus on digital skills starting on page 35. You can study this section if you want to emphasize what the common digital skills of teens are. This can help parents assess how digitally skilled their children are in comparison to others. Emphasizing that digital skills are an important benefit acquired by digital media use can help parents understand that while parental involvement and caution are important, so is providing their children with opportunities to become digitally skillful.

Another Czech source of nation-specific research is the webpage called MediaGuru. As children in this age group are approaching young adulthood some of their peers' views are already represented in some of the research findings. On MediaGuru you can for example learn that Czech social media users are most active on Snapchat – people aged 15 to 29 representing the majority of them.