A run-down of OfComs Children and parents: media use and attitudes report
Ofcom has released their Children and parents: media use and attitudes report for 2022. The report looks at children and young people aged 3-17 views on media use as well as the views of their parents. This report is used as a reference by industry, policymakers, academics and the public.
Overview of OfComs findings
Online access and attitudes
99% of children went online in 2021 with the vast majority using a mobile phone (72%) or a tablet (69%) to access the internet
36% of primary school-aged children did not always have access to an adequate device for online learning at home. This is compared to 17% of secondary school children.
11% of primary school-aged children rarely or never had access to an adequate device for online learning at home. This is compared to 3% of secondary school children
Online Behaviours
For 95% of those aged 3-17 the most popular online activity was video-sharing platforms (VSPs) such a YouTube or TikTok
31% of those who used VSPs posted content they had made themselves, especially those aged 12-17, with TikTok being the most popular for posting content
Among all online platforms, YouTube was mostly widely used by children, as it was used by 89% of children. Only half of children used TikTok
Online Profiles
A majority of children under 13 had their own profile on at least one social media. 33% of parents with children aged 5-7 said their child had a profile on social media and 60% of parents with children aged 8-11 said their child had a profile on social media
62% of children aged 8-17 said they had more than one profile on some platforms. The most common reason for this is having one profile just for parents, family or friends to see
38% of parents with children aged 8-11 said they would allow their child to use social media
Only 42% of parents knew that the minimum age requirement for most social media is 13.
Content Consumption
Children still watch live television but are more likely to watch on demand streaming services such as Netflix, with Scotland having the largest decline in broadcast viewing
78% of children and young people 3-17 watched services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, compared to 47% watching live TV
Despite almost six in ten teenagers saying they used social media for news, it was the least trusted or accurate news source
68% of 12-15s preferred to trust their family for news and 65% preferred to trust the TV for news
Parental concerns about children’s content consumption
Seven in ten parents of children under 16 were concerned about the content their child saw online
The biggest concerns were age-inappropriate content such as violence, bad language and disturbing content and sexual or ‘adult’ content.
Parents had fewer concerns about TV content their children watched compared to online content, with 46% being concerned about their child seeing bad language, violence or disturbing content on TV.
Parents in Wales, were more likely than parents in other UK countries to be very concerned about some aspects of their child's media use. These aspects include giving out personal details to people online or seeing age-inappropriate content online or on TV
Online Gaming
Six in ten children aged 3-17 played games online in 2021, increasing to three-quarters among 12-17 year olds.
36% of 8-17 year olds who gamed online played with people they didn't know
16% of 8-17 year old chatted to people they didn’t know, via the messaging/ chat functions in games.
Critical understanding of fake vs real online
The majority of 12-17s were confident that they could tell what is real and fake online, but only 11% correctly selected, in an interactive survey question showing a social media post, the components of the post which reflected that it was genuine.
22% were unable to detect a fake online social media profile; a quarter of these thought that the profile picture and posted photos proved that it was real.
Children in Wales were more likely than those in the other UK nations to pick out only reliable identifiers in the misinformation scenario: 22%, compared to 8% to 11% in other nations
Understanding the internet as a commercial landscape
Nine in ten children aged 12-17 were confident that they could recognise advertising online
However, only 37% correctly identified the links at the top of a search engine page as sponsored ads.
Seven in ten children aged 12-17 could correctly identify when an influencer was promoting a product because of a paid partnership
Of those who could correctly identify influencer marketing and product promotion, 42% stated this as the only reason, with the remainder suggesting it was due to other reasons such as the influencer simply liking the product.
Online Wellbeing
53% of 13-17 year olds were more likely to feel positive than negative about their online use, saying that being online was good for their mental health, with only 17% disagreeing with this
Eight in ten children aged 13-17 used online services to find support for their wellbeing; both Google search and online videos used for sleep, relaxation and good mood emerged as key sources for support among children.
Negative experiences and coping strategies
36% of children aged 8-17 said they had seen something ‘worrying or nasty’ online in the past 12 months
59% of children aged 8-17 said they would always tell someone about this
Children are more likely to experience being bullied via technology than face-to-face
84% of children aged 8-17 had been bulled via technology (i.e., via text or messaging, on social media, in online games, through phone or video calls, or via other apps and sites). This is much higher than the 61% who had experienced bullying face-to-face
94% of children aged 12-17 were aware of at least one safety feature to help keep themselves safe online, with 84% putting these features into practice
Blocking people on social media was the feature with the highest level of awareness and use
35% had used behaviours that are potentially risky: a fifth had either surfed in privacy or incognito mode (21%) or deleted their browsing history (19%).
32% knew how to use online reporting or flagging functions, and only 14% had ever used them
Parental attitudes and mediation strategies
63% of parents felt their child had a good balance between screen time and doing other things, but 40% said they struggled to control their child’s screen time.
91% of parents had high awareness of safety-promoting technical tools and controls, but only 70% had used any of them.
The tools most likely to be used were parental controls built into a device’s software (31%).
Parents in Northern Ireland were less confident about their ability to keep their child safe online (72%) than parents in either Scotland (82%) or Wales (81%).
Overall, the Children and Parent's: Media Use and Attitudes Report 2022 paints an honest picture of children's use of technology in the UK today. It highlights key trends and challenges, such as the high rates of cyberbullying, the confusion around advertising, and the need for better safety features. It also points to some promising findings, such as children's growing awareness of online wellbeing resources and their ability to recognise when an influencer is promoting a product due to paid partnership.
Read the full report here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens/children-and-parents-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2022
A snapshot of media usage by age. Credit: OfCom Children and parents: media use and attitudes report