Internet Use, Rates and Purposes of

Computers and the Internet are commonplace in the lives of American youth, from toddlers to teens. More than 85% of the country's children live in households that have computers. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation study, nearly all school-age children have gone online at least once, but both Internet access and habitual Internet use are contingent on household income, parental education, and race and ethnicity.

The Kaiser study also reports that children's home-based Internet access and likelihood of using the Internet in a typical day are higher among whites and increase with household income and parents' education level. About 80% of non-Hispanic white children and 75% of Asian children use a computer at home, whereas only 47% of black children and 50% of Hispanic children do so, according to U.S. Census Bureau data reported by Day, Janus, and Davis. About [Page 449]a quarter of children live in households with broadband Internet access (National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 2004). The figures for children who use computers at school, however, are roughly equal, according to the U.S. Census report. This does not mean that all U.S. children enjoy equal access overall, as school-based computer use is dictated by teaching schedules and the number of available terminals.

Age also plays a factor in terms of Internet use. More than four out of five children who have access to computers at home use them to play games, and two thirds use them for schoolwork. This difference likely is a function of age, because although young children start out playing games, they begin to use a broader range of software applications as they grow older. Between 85% and 90% of older teenagers use the computer most often for schoolwork and to access the Internet, according to U.S. Census data.

Those data also indicate that the percentage of children who use the Internet at home climbs as they get older. Of minors who live in households with Internet access, about a quarter of children ages 3 to 5 use the Internet at home; 48% of children ages 6 to 9 do so, followed by 77% of youths ages 10 to 14 and 92% of youths ages 15 to 17. The most common online activities, whether at home, at school, or elsewhere, are to complete schoolwork (75%) and to play games (65%). About 60% of children said they use the Internet for e-mail or instant messaging.

Apparently, young children are gaining computer skills earlier than they were 5 years ago. According to a survey published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 28% of 2-year-olds have used a computer on a parent's lap, compared with 11% of 6-year-olds who had done so at age 2; and 17% of 2-year-olds have used a mouse to point and click, compared with 5% of 6-year-olds who had done so when they were 2 years old (Rideout, Vandewater, & Wartella, 2003).

The same survey indicates that about half of children ages 6 and under, nearly one third of children aged 6 months to 3 years, and 70% of children between 4 and 6 years of age have used a computer. Seven percent of these children had computers in their bedrooms. About a quarter of children 4 to 6 years old use computers daily, spending 1 hour at the computer. In addition, 4 out of 10 children in this age group use computers at least several times a week, with approximately 30% having navigated to a specific website.

...