DIGITAL

KIDS
Digital Natives with Analog
Tendencies
JUNE 2014
Mark Dolliver
Contributors: Christine Bittar, Jennifer Pearson, Monica Peart

Read this on
eMarketer for iPad

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
When people speak of digital kids, the novelty
of the adjective may obscure the importance of
the noun. Above all, kids are still just kids. Their
engagement with technology is limited by the
immature interests and capabilities that go with
being very young, and further limited by restrictions
their parents impose. In important respects, kids are
digital natives who arent all that digital.
TV is still the biggest part of their media usage, albeit
TV that includes digital elements. Kids play games and
use websites that have social elements, but do little of
what grown-ups recognize as social networking. And
while a parent will hand over a smartphone at times,
few kids have smartphones of their own. That alone
limits their entre to the digital world a 20-something
typically inhabits.
Focusing on kids who havent yet reached their teenage
years, this report will look beyond the digital native
label to examine the components of their media usage.
It will look at the scope and nature of their TV and video
viewing. It will assess the degree to which kids can
access mobile devices. And it will examine the presence
of social networking (minor) and gaming (major) in kids
digital activity.

KEY QUESTIONS

What is the nature of kids TV and video

consumption?
To what degree can kids get ahold of mobile devices?
Is online social networking in the grown-up sense a
major activity for kids?
How big a role do digital games play for boys
and girls?

Unless otherwise noted, the term kids in this report

refers to people ages 12 or youngeri.e., those who have
not yet ascended to the status of teenager. Where surveys
cited in the report look at subgroups within the under-12
age bracket or straddle the line between kids and teens,
this is noted in the accompanying text.

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

Online Activity Conducted Most Often by US Children,

by Gender, March 2014
% of total
Play games
45.0%
39.0%
Watch videos
38.0%
27.6%
Chat/social network
7.0%
9.2%
Search internet
4.4%
11.0%
Download music
3.1%
5.7%
Do schoolwork
2.6%
7.5%
Male

Female

Note: n=457 ages 8-11; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: KidSay, "TrendTracker," April 17, 2014
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CONTENTS
2 Executive Summary
3 Kids First, Digital Second
3 Watching TV and Video
5 Kids and the Internet
6 Kids and Social Networking
7 Mobile, Up to a Point
10 Kids and Games
12 Conclusions
12 eMarketer Interviews
13 Related eMarketer Report
13 Related Links
13 Editorial and Production Contributors

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2

KIDS FIRST, DIGITAL SECOND

Kids are, as everyone says, digital natives. Indeed,
they tend to be second-generation digital natives
whose parents came of age with the internet. But
thats just the beginning of the story, not the whole
story, when one looks at kids media and technology
usage today.
The enduring realities of kid lifebeing under parental
orders, being preliterate for years, being in a succession
of immature developmental stagesimpose significant
limits on kids digital and media usage. They are notably
active in some areas, like playing games and viewing
educational content. But they underindex for some
that are central to adults digital lives, like smartphone
ownership and social networking.
Having been surrounded by digital technology from birth,
many kids experience it simply as the air they breathe
something they take for granted more than something
theyre consciously interested in. And for younger kids,
the fact that they are physically adept with a touchscreen
does not mean they are mentally sophisticated in
their digital usage, which is why parents sometimes
discover their kids have made in-app purchases without
understanding what they were doing.
When they turn to a screenTV, tablet, smartphone,
whateverkids typically want it to tell them a story, much
as a parent did at the earliest bedtime they can recall. No
matter what technology comes along, the core remains
the same, which is characters that kids like, that they
find funny; surprising things, unexpected things, said
Jeffrey Grant, who is involved with Cartoon Network as
senior vice president of research at Turner Broadcasting
Systems Animation, Young Adults and Kids Media unit.
Those things havent changed since puppet shows
in Italy in the Renaissance, and from Punch and Judy
to now.

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

WATCHING TV AND VIDEO

For adults, TV may be old media. For kids, its fun
mediathe place where they see the cartoons and
other shows that delight them. And for many kids, the
older networks are supplemented by digital sources.
In its tabulation of media usage during Q4 2013, Nielsen
found that kids ages 2 to 11 watched 111 hours 10
minutes of traditional TV per month. In addition, they
spent 10 hours 45 minutes watching timeshifted TV.
Further, the kids used a DVD/Blu-ray device to view
content for 9 hours 18 minutes.
Inquiring about a different mix of media activities, July
2013 polling by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame
Workshop got a lower figure from parents for daily
viewing among their 2- to 10-year-olds. Still, TV was the
dominant medium.
Daily Time Spent with Media Among US Children
According to Their Parents, by Age of Child and Media
Type, July 2013
hrs:mins
2-4

5-7

8-10

Total

TV

1:20

1:18

1:24

1:21

Video games

0:03

0:20

0:27

0:17

Computers

0:02

0:15

0:25

0:14

Mobile devices

0:10

0:14

0:18

0:14

Total

1:37

2:08

2:36

2:07

Note: numbers may not add up to total due to rounding

Source: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, "Learning at
Home: Families' Educational Media Use in America," Jan 24, 2014
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Without restricting its question specifically to TV, March

2014 polling by GfK Custom Research for C.S. Mott
Childrens Hospital found that 26% of parents of 2- to
5-year-olds said their kid spent 3 or more hours per day
with entertainment screen time.
Many kids experience TV as a constant presence at
home, even if no one is watching. In a May to June 2013
survey by Common Sense Media, a childrens media
research and advocacy group, 12% of parents with kids
ages 0 to 8 said the TV set is always on; 26% said its
on most of the time. But even when kids are watching
a show, they arent necessarily giving it their full attention.
Theyre typically immersed in something else while
theyre watching, Grant said.

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3

TV viewing is often a family-togetherness activity. In the

Cooney Center survey, kids watched television with a
parent for an average of 49 minutes a dayfar more
than the amount of time doing other media activities
together. Then again, TV also stands out as the technology
for which kids can have a satisfying sense of personal
ownership. Common Sense Media found that 36% of
kids have a TV set in their bedroom.
Still, the proliferation of devices has encroached on TV
time. Common Sense Media found a decline between
2011 and 201365% to 58%in the proportion of kids
who watch TV as an everyday activity. There was also a
decline in everyday DVD viewers, from 25% to 18%. By
contrast, the proportion using mobile devices every day
more than doubled during that time, from 8% to 17%.

Aside from availability of content, this pattern reflects

degrees to which kids of different ages make their own
choices. I think the older kids get, the more in control
they are of their own media habits, whereas with the
younger kids, parents really have the control, said Marisa
Wolsky, executive producer at WGBH in Boston, the
public-broadcasting station that has produced kid shows
such as Design Squad and Arthur. Older kidswho,
after all, spend plenty of time in schooltend to seek
pure entertainment when watching TV. Wolsky noted
that at WGBH, we look at genres that are already popular
for kids and then infuse them with educational content.

DIGITAL VIDEO
Among the half of 0- to 11-year-olds who are internet
users, eMarketer estimates, seven in 10 will view digital
video at least once a month this year.

Daily Media Activities of US Children According to

Their Parents, 2011 & 2013
% of respondents
2011

2013

Read/are read to

58%

60%

Watch TV

65%

58%

Watch DVDs

25%

18%

8%

17%

14%

14%

Use handheld video game*

Use console video game

Read an ebook

US Digital Video Viewer Penetration, by Age,

2012-2018
% of internet users in each group
2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

0-11

63.0%

68.0%

70.0%

71.0%

72.0%

73.0%

73.0%

12-17

87.0%

90.0%

92.0%

93.0%

93.0%

93.0%

93.0%

7%

18-24

91.0%

93.0%

95.0%

95.6%

96.0%

96.0%

96.0%

9%

6%

25-34

86.0%

89.0%

90.0%

90.1%

90.0%

90.0%

90.0%

2%

4%

35-44

79.0%

85.0%

87.0%

88.0%

89.0%

89.0%

89.0%

Note: ages 0-8; who perform each media activity at least once or more per
day; *in 2011, mobile device included handheld video game players and
was not a separate item
Source: Common Sense Media, "Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in
America 2013," Oct 28, 2013

45-54

70.0%

76.0%

77.3%

78.2%

79.3%

80.7%

82.3%

55-64

53.0%

57.0%

60.0%

61.0%

62.0%

63.0%

64.0%

65+

33.0%

36.0%

39.0%

42.0%

44.0%

45.0%

46.0%

Total

72.2%

75.7%

77.3%

78.1%

78.6%

79.0%

79.3%

Use a mobile device

Use a computer

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Parents are likely more indulgent of TV because they

regard some as educational. In Cooney Centers survey,
parents on average rated 52% of the time their kids
spend with TV and DVDs as educational. Theres a caveat,
though: Kids watch less educational TV as they get older.
While 45% of 2- to 4-year-olds were daily viewers of
educational TV and DVDs, so were 24% of
5- to 7-year-olds and 12% of those 8 to 10.

Note: internet users who watch video content online via any device at least
once per month
Source: eMarketer, Feb 2014
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Boys are a bit more likely than girls to be digital video

enthusiasts, according to a March 2014 survey by
research firm KidSay. Among 8- to 11-year-olds, 38.0%
of boys and 27.6% of girls cited watch videos when
identifying the online activity they conduct most often.
Much of the kid content on conventional TV is available
via streaming services, along with those sites original
programming. In addition to letting kids get what they
want on their own schedule, an option like Netflix
appeals to parents because kids wont be inundated
with commercials.

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The absence of commercials also means any given show

neednt be so narrowly targeted to a given nichea
point made by Marjorie Cohn, head of television at
DreamWorks Animation, which is developing original
programming for Netflix. Commercial television has to
target an ad sales audience very strenuously, she said,
while on Netflix, we can do a show that is targeted to
the whole family.
In a February 2014 paper summarizing a recent TV
Network Report by childrens market research and
consultancy Smarty Pants, the firms trends and insights
guru Melanie Shreffler wrote, From a kids point of
view, Netflix and YouTube are one-stop shops for all their
video needs.
Streaming is also well-suited to kids repetitive viewing.
As parents knowoften to their despairyoung children
can enjoy watching a favorite episode of a show over and
over. A November 2013 article from The New York Times
said of kids, Instead of binge viewing as their parents do,
they deja view. It noted a finding by Amazon that 65%
of the most-replayed programs on its streaming service,
Prime Instant Video, are shows for children.
More broadly, streaming meets the expectation kids have
grown up with for getting the content they want when
they want it. They are absolutely accustomed to the idea
of on-demand, Cohn said.

KIDS AND THE INTERNET

Being a digital native does not mean being online
from infancy. Many kids are internet users, but many
are not.
eMarketer estimates that 49.3% of kids ages 0 to 11
will be internet users this year. The proportion is naturally
higher among older kids. The KidSay survey found about
six in 10 of those ages 8 to 11 go online at least daily,
while fewer than one in five do so rarely or never.
Frequency with Which US Children Use the Internet,
by Gender, March 2014
% of total
Many times a day
41.5%
36.3%
Once a day
20.0%
22.1%
3-5 times a week
16.2%
12.7%
1-2 times a week
7.6%
12.0%
Rarely
12.5%
15.7%
Never
2.3%
1.1%
Male

Female

Note: n=532 ages 8-11; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: KidSay, "TrendTracker," April 17, 2014
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According to Cooney Centers survey, 83% of kids ages

2 to 10 are in households with high-speed internet
access. In a January 2014 Horowitz Associates survey,
the figure was a shade higher for total households with
children, at 87%.
With content moving across multiple platforms, its
no surprise that TV sometimes gives kids impetus to
go online. Linda Simensky, vice president of childrens
programming at PBS, cited the networks new Peg +
Cat TV series as an example. At a Peg + Cat section
of the PBS KIDS website, the shows young fans can
find videos, games and activities that help extend the
stories and learning goals depicted in the on-air episodes,
she said.

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Whatever prompts them to get there, though, most kids

arent roaming through cyberspace for hours on end.
Nielsens Q4 2013 survey showed those ages 2 to 11
averaged a modest 4 hours 19 minutes per month using
the internet on a computer. (Among adults other than
seniors, the average exceeded 30 hours per month.) Most
of that time3 hours 40 minuteswas spent watching
online video. Kids would likely spend more time online
if they had a computer of their own. But the Common
Sense Media survey found just 3% of those ages 8 and
younger had one in their bedroom.
One reason not many in this age demographic have
their own computer is that parents fret about how
kids behavior might compromise their digital privacy.
I just came across a new app that is designed to have
parents monitor basically every keystroke their kid does
on different devices, said David Kleeman, for years
president of the American Center for Children and Media
and now PlayVangelist and senior vice president of
insights programs at PlayCollective. So there is a market
to be made in exploiting any parental concerns or fears
about it.
In light of evolving rules under the federal Childrens
Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and the level of
enforcement that the Federal Trade Commission [FTC] has
indicated its going to have over these, companies that are
developing for kids are taking it extremely seriously, and
need to, Kleeman added.
COPPA was enacted in 1998 with the aim of ensuring
kids online privacy and mandating that companies
collecting online information from children ages 12 and
younger get parental consent before doing so. New rules
issued by the FTC under COPPA, which took effect last
summer, take into account the expansion of technology
(including mobile apps and social media) since the laws
enactment to cover things like geolocation data and
online sharing of photos and voice content. The law does
not prohibit advertising to children. It does, however, have
the effect of limiting behaviorally targeted advertising to
kids, since advertising of that sort reflects the fact that
information on a kids online behavior has been collected.

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

KIDS AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

For many adults, social networking is the prime
attraction of digital usage. Not so for kids. With age
restrictions by Facebook and other social networks
plus parental restrictionsonline social networking
in the grown-up sense is a minor part of kids
digital lives.
eMarketer estimates that 17.8% of internet users ages
0 to 11 will be social network users this year. Since just
half the kids that age are online at all, this means less
than one in 10 use social networkswhich we define as
sites where the primary activities involve creating a profile
and interacting with a network of contacts by sharing
status updates, comments, photos or other content.
Tabulating the number of kids on Facebook is tricky,
since some parents assist preteens in circumventing
its 13-and-older restriction. But while penetration surely
rises as one nears that magic age, it is low for the overall
kid cohort. eMarketer estimates that 12.0% of internet
users ages 0 to 11 will be Facebook users this year, which
means about 6% of the whole population that age will be
on Facebook.
US Facebook Users, by Age, 2012-2018
% of internet users in each group
2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

0-11

11.0%

11.7%

12.0%

12.0%

12.0%

12.0%

12.0%

12-17

80.1%

80.9%

81.7%

82.3%

82.8%

83.3%

83.8%

18-24

85.0%

86.2%

87.1%

88.0%

89.0%

89.9%

90.8%

25-34

77.0%

77.7%

78.6%

78.9%

78.9%

79.0%

79.0%

35-44

65.0%

66.0%

67.0%

67.7%

68.5%

68.9%

69.2%

45-54

56.0%

57.0%

58.0%

58.7%

59.6%

60.6%

61.8%

55-64

48.0%

49.6%

50.0%

50.7%

51.6%

52.3%

53.0%

65+

31.0%

33.0%

34.0%

35.0%

36.0%

37.0%

38.0%

Total

59.6%

60.0%

60.3%

60.7%

61.1%

61.4%

61.8%

Note: internet users who access their Facebook account via any device at
least once per month
Source: eMarketer, Feb 2014
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Other social venues big among adults have even less of a

presence in the 0-to-11 group. eMarketer estimates that
less than 3% of all kids in this age group will use Twitter
and less than 1% will use Instagram or Pinterest.

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 6

The kid constituency for online socializing is larger

when one broadens the definition to include venues
that offer social gaming or online virtual worlds with
social elements. In the Common Sense Media survey,
23% of parents said their 0- to 8-year-olds often go to
child-oriented social networking or virtual world sites
like Togetherville or Club Penguin; 40% said their kids
sometimes do this.
Still, social networking is subordinate to other digital
activities. When KidSays polling asked 8- to 11-year-olds to
identify the online activity they do most often, just 7.0%
of boys and 9.2% of girls picked chat/social network.
In a sense, TV is the social medium for kids, not the likes
of Facebook and Twitter. Kids want to be watching what
their friends are watching, WGBHs Wolsky said. Its part
of their social culture.

MOBILE, UP TO A POINT
Amid chatter about kids as digital natives, one can
miss the crucial but: They are digital natives, but
most do not have smartphonesthe indispensable
device for many adults. Even without smartphones
of their own, though, kids access parents phones
and family tablets to give their digital lives a
mobile component.
Hardware aside, this cohorts mobile usage is on an
upward trajectory as people who create mobile content
for them get a better grasp on how to do so. Carla Fisher,
founder and president of gaming design company No
Crusts Interactive, noted that mobile has moved beyond
the initial phase at which content creators were saying,
Look how natural it is for kids, and moving on to a
point where were starting to understand how to design
for it and how to take great advantage of it.
And well they should, as the proportion of kids with some
sort of mobile access is certainly on the upswing. Ipsos
MediaCT has seen the proportion of 6- to 12-year-olds
who own an internet-enabled mobile device rising from
one-quarter in 2011 to more than six in 10, according to
the 2014 LMX Family polling.
Internet-Enabled Mobile Device Ownership Among US
Children* According to Their Parents, 2011-2014
% of respondents

63%
50%
37%
25%

2011

2012

2013

2014

Note: includes ereader, iPod Touch, smartphone or tablet; *ages 6-12

Source: Ipsos MediaCT, "LMX Family Study," June 2014
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KIDS ON THE PHONE

Amid the broad growth in device ownership, few kids
in the overall population younger than age 12 have a
smartphone. eMarketer estimates that 21.0% of 0- to
11-year-olds will have their own mobile phones this year.
Among these mobile-equipped kids, 22.7% will have
smartphones. Thus, less than one in 20 in this age group
will have their own smartphone.
US Smartphone User Penetration, by Age, 2012-2018
% of mobile phone users in each group
2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

0-11

15.9%

19.8%

22.7%

24.6%

26.8%

27.8%

28.9%

12-17

44.3%

56.9%

63.0%

70.9%

74.9%

82.9%

86.0%

18-24

68.6%

77.4%

82.7%

87.8%

92.9%

96.1%

97.7%

25-34

69.3%

75.5%

82.5%

88.8%

94.0%

96.2%

97.0%

35-44

61.7%

72.5%

81.6%

88.7%

92.8%

96.0%

97.1%

45-54

46.3%

57.8%

66.9%

75.8%

82.8%

89.8%

96.8%

55-64

41.9%

51.2%

61.1%

70.0%

76.9%

83.8%

91.0%

65+

21.3%

23.7%

26.2%

29.2%

30.9%

33.1%

35.1%

Total

50.4%

58.5%

65.0%

71.0%

75.3%

79.3%

82.1%

Mothers are often the ones surrendering smartphones to

kids. In an August 2013 BabyCenter survey of smartphone
mothers of kids under age 9 (plus expectant mothers),
52% cited childrens apps among functions for which
their device is used. In an AOL survey in June 2013, about
four in 10 US mother smartphone users with children
ages 5 and younger said they hand the phone over at
least once a daya sign of the tendency to use it as a
kind of pacifier.
Frequency with Which US Mother Smartphone Users
Allow Their Child to Use Their Smartphone, June 2013
% of respondents
A few times
a month
5%

A few times a day

19%

Rarely or never
34%

Once a day
20%

Once a week
5%

A few times
a week
18%

Note: individuals who own at least one smartphone and use the
smartphone(s) at least once per month
Source: eMarketer, March 2014

Note: children ages 0-5; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: AOL, "Mobile Moms, Mobile First," Oct 25, 2013

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However, a majority of kids inhabit households where

a parent has a smartphone. Harris Interactive polling
in November 2013 for Scout GPS found more than
three-quarters of parents with kids 12 and younger
had smartphones.

KIDS AND TABLETS

And many kids get their hands on parental phones.

December 2013 polling for Project Tomorrow, an
education nonprofit whose activities include research on
kids, tabulated personal access to smartphones among
schoolchildren. The proportion rose from about one-fifth
of those in grades K through 2 to half of those in grades
3 through 5 and approached three-quarters of those in
grades 6 through 8. Getting at the amount of such usage,
an Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) survey in October
2013 found 23% of kids 12 and younger regularly use a
parents smartphone, along with 9% who use their own.
Smartphone Used Regularly Among US Children*
According to Their Parents, by Owner, Oct 2013
% of respondents
Parent's smartphone

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When Fisher-Price introduced its tablet-equipable

Apptivity seat for the newborn-to-toddler set last year, it
was easy to envisionwhether with pleasure or horror
infants en masse using tablets. But while more and more
kids do use them, it is not yet the norm.
In this nascent market, estimates vary on the proportion
of kids in different age brackets with access to tablets.
eMarketer projects that 27.9% of 0- to 11-year-olds will
use a tablet at least once a month this year. Growth is
slowing, though, and eMarketer expects the increase in
penetration to be in the single digits by next year.
Tablet access is higher when one excludes infants
from the sample. The Cooney Centers survey put
the proportion of kids ages 2 to 10 in tablet-owning
households at 55%. As kids reach school age, usage of
tablets and other devices increases, the survey from
Project Tomorrow found.

23%

Child's own smartphone 9%

Note: n=372; *ages 12 or younger
Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), "Mobile Holiday Shopping
Consumer Survey" conducted by Harris Interactive, Nov 25, 2013
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US Students with Personal Access to Mobile Devices,

by Grade Level, Dec 2013
% of respondents in each group
Laptop

Tablet

Smartphone

Digital
reader

Kindergarten-2nd grade

41%

41%

21%

18%

3rd-5th grade

62%

58%

50%

39%

6th-8th grade

66%

61%

73%

48%

9th-12th grade

66%

50%

89%

39%

Source: Project Tomorrow and Speak Up National Research Project, "The

New Digital Learning Playbook: Understanding the Spectrum of Students'
Activities and Aspirations," April 8, 2014
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HOW THEYRE USING MOBILE

When kids get their hands on mobile devices, what are
they doing with them? Some are going online. eMarketer
estimates that 24.0% of mobile phone users ages 0 to 11
will be mobile internet users in 2014.
As one might guess, there is a visual and playful skew
to kids mobile activity. In the Common Sense Media
survey, 43% were reported to be playing games, 26%
viewing videos and 18% watching TV shows or movies on
a phone. On tablets, 37% played games, 28% watched
videos and 24% watched TV shows or movies. When
BabyCenter asked mothers to identify the kinds of video
for which they use their smartphone, entertainment for
the kids got more mentions than entertainment for me
(31% vs. 25%).
While kids move uninhibitedly among platforms, their
expectations may shift when they view content on a
handheld screen. When a tablet or phone is in their
hands, it feels like the speed picks up a bit, and the
metronome of what their expectation is kicks up a bit
higher, said Michael Ouweleen, senior vice president and
group creative director for Cartoon Networks Creative
Group at Turner Broadcasting System. But he rejects the
notion that usage of multiple devices has left kids with
shorter attention spans. I dont think it has hurt the ability
to watch longer-form stuff.
In any event, kids often have a range of mobile activities
from which to choose. Common Sense Media found
that 28% of parents who have downloaded apps to a
smartphone said half or more of those were for their
kids. The proportion was even higher54%among
respondents who downloaded apps to a tablet. In a PBS
KIDS survey in November 2013, a majority of parents
ages 18 to 34 said they had already bought apps for
their kids.

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

US Parent Internet Users Who Have or Intend to

Purchase Apps for Their Children, by Age, Nov 2013
% of respondents in each group
18-34

35-44

45+

Total

Yes

73%

69%

62%

68%

Currently

54%

48%

36%

46%

Plan to

19%

20%

26%

22%

No, do not currently and do not plan to

27%

31%

38%

32%

Note: parents of children ages 2-10

Source: PBS KIDS, "Parent Survey," Dec 2, 2013
167607

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Covering different age brackets and different devices,

surveys vary considerably in quantifying the time kids
spend with mobile. The Common Sense Media survey
found the average time spent accessing media on
smartphones, iPod Touches, tablets or similar devices
was 15 minutes per day among 0- to 8-year-olds. In the
November 2013 Scout GPS survey, nearly half of the
parents with kids ages 10 to 12 said their offspring were
spending 3 or more hours using mobile tools such as
phones, tablets and gaming devices, while the figures
were lower for younger kids.
Average Daily Time Spent on Mobile Devices by US
Children and Teens During the Holidays According to
Their Parents, by Age of Child, Nov 2013
% of respondents
<2

3-5

6-9

10-12 13-17 Total

(2-17)

Spend any time per day

70% 86% 91%

90%

96%

87%

<1 hour

16%

9% 14%

15%

5%

14%

1-2 hours

31% 34% 31%

27%

25%

30%

3-4 hours

16% 24% 27%

20%

28%

23%

5-6 hours

2% 15% 13%

24%

29%

16%

7+ hours

5%

4%

5%

5%

9%

5%

My kids aren't interested in this 2%

3%

2%

4%

1%

2%

Note: parents of at least one child under age 18 and if more than one child,
the average time between them; devices such as gaming devices, mobile
phones and tablets
Source: Scout GPS, "The Evolution of the Holiday Road Trip," Dec 11, 2013
167354

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Parental tolerance for kids mobile usage is tested when

young ones make in-app purchases, unbeknownst to
the parent until a charge appears. For instance, a toddler
might spend real money to buy in-game currency without
understanding what the transaction means. Apple
recently shelled out $32.5 millionalso in real moneyto
settle FTC charges relating to kids in-app purchases, and
it has adjusted the purchase process so parents will not
unwittingly hand their kids a device primed to buy.

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 9

KIDS AND GAMES

Just as nontechnological games did for kids in
the past, electronic games loom large for kids
today. However, games do not consume as many
of their waking hours as the popular stereotype
might suggest.
KidSay got an indication of gamings status when it asked
8- to 11-year-olds to tell what they do most often on the
internet. A plurality picked play games.
Online Activity Conducted Most Often by US Children,
by Gender, March 2014
% of total
Play games
45.0%
39.0%
Watch videos
38.0%
27.6%
Chat/social network
7.0%
9.2%
Search internet
4.4%
11.0%
Download music
3.1%

Gaming is popular among girls as well as boys. The

Project Tomorrow survey found that 42% of girls and 38%
of boys in grades 3 to 5 regularly play games on tablets;
a bit more than one-quarter of boys and girls that age play
games on smartphones. But girls and boys preferences
in games differ, albeit less so among younger kids. The
really classic gender divisions dont start to emerge in
games until kids are around 8, 10 or 12, Fisher said. In
the 10- to 12-year-olds, we do see girls going toward more
social games and boys going toward racing games.
That dovetails with what Michael Cai observes as senior
vice president of research at Interpret, which conducts
research for game companies. Girls and boys both enjoy
competition, he said. But for boys, it often means Im
killing your character, while for girls its apt to mean
whos got the higher score in a farming game or a
time-management gameor when were dancing
together, who got a higher score.
Some gaming is a family-together activity. An April
2014 report by the Entertainment Software Association
(ESA) said 42% of parents whose kids are gamers play
computer and video games along with them at least
weekly. (The survey included parents of teens and
younger kids.) However, co-play declines as kids get older.
The Cooney Center survey found co-play with a parent
accounted for 49% of the time a 2- to 4-year-old spent
gaming but 20% for an 8- to 10-year-old.

5.7%
Do schoolwork
2.6%

TIME TO GAME?

7.5%
Male

Female

Note: n=457 ages 8-11; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: KidSay, "TrendTracker," April 17, 2014
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A majority of kids are in households that have gaming

devices. The Cooney Center found 76% of 2- to
10-year-olds co-habit with a console video game player
and 50% with a handheld video game player. In the
Common Sense Media survey, 63% of households
reported having a video game player like an Xbox,
Playstation or Wii; 35% had a handheld video game
player like a Gameboy, PSP or Nintendo DS.

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

Despite gamings popularity with kids, the amount of

time they spend (and are allowed to spend) doing it
is fairly modest. In Nielsens report for Q4 2013, 2- to
11-year-olds averaged 11 hours 58 minutes per month
using game consolesi.e., about 24 minutes per day.
(Note that some people use consoles for non-gaming
functions.) The Cooney Centers polling found that 8- to
10-year-olds averaged 27 minutes a day and 5- to
7-year-olds 20 minutes a day with video games on a
console or handheld device. Playing just 3 minutes a day,
2- to 4-year-olds brought down the overall average.

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 10

Kids who dont play games at alland they do exist,

according to their parentsalso lower the time-spent
averages. In the Common Sense Media polling, 6%
of parents said their kids play console games daily and
21% said that they do so weekly. But 48% said their kid
never does this. The never figures was a bit higher for
gaming on a handheld player like a DS or similar device
(53%) but significantly lower for gaming on a mobile
device like a smartphone, tablet or iPod Touch (35%).
These variations in behavior yield sharp differences in
average amounts of time spent with games by the total
0-to-8 population vs. the segment identified as gamers.
The same survey found the latter group averaged more
than an hour a day with console games, for instance,
vs. 6 minutes for the full 0-to-8 cohort.
Daily Time Spent with Video Games by US Children
According to Their Parents, 2011 & 2013
hrs:mins
2011

2013

Video games*

1:15

1:09

Computer games

0:57

0:53

Mobile games**

0:30

0:45

Video games*

0:10

0:06

Computer games

0:08

0:05

Mobile games**

0:03

0:08

Average among those who play

Average among total

Note: in a typical day; ages 0-8; *console; **smartphone, tablet or similar

devices, does not include handheld game players such as Game Boys
Source: Common Sense Media, "Zero to Eight: Children's Media Use in
America 2013," Oct 28, 2013
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Some of kids gaming time falls under the heading of

media multitasking. Cartoon Network has tapped into this
with a tablet app that combines watching and playing.
They can watch streaming video and they can play
games related to that at the same time, Ouweleen said.
One restraint on kids gaming is a parental sense that
more than a little is too much. In the ESAs survey, 56% of
parents rated video games a positive part of their childs
life. But that means nearly half the parents did not share
this outlook.

Of course, many games present themselves as

educational. In the PBS KIDS survey, 77% of parents
cited educational content among the factors most
important to them when choosing apps for their kids. But
educational games arent necessarily the ones kids most
want to play. According to Cooney Centers findings, the
percentage of kids using educational video games on a
daily basis was in the single digits. Putting it another way,
just 18% of the time kids spent with video games was
with educational games.
Daily Time Spent with Educational and Total Media*
by US Children According to Their Parents,
by Platform, July 2013
hrs:mins and % of total
Educational
media*

Total
media

Educational %
of total media

TV/DVDs

0:42

1:21

52%

Video games

0:03

0:17

18%

Computer

0:05

0:14

36%

Mobile device

0:05

0:14

36%

Total

0:56

2:07

44%

Note: ages 2-10; numbers may not add up to total due to rounding;
*products that teach a child some type of lesson, such as an academic or
social skill, or are good for a child's learning or growth
Source: The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, "Learning at
Home: Families' Educational Media Use in America," Jan 24, 2014
168674

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In Kleemans view, grown-ups may be using too narrow

a definition of educational when they assess the effect
some games havemuch as they do with regard to TV
shows. He cited the example of parents who dont regard
kids play on the highly popular Minecraft as educational.
My guess is that [parents] dont watch long enough to
see just how much creativity and problem-solving is going
into it, he said.
Parents may be as concerned about the amount of their
kids digital usagegames includedas about the content
of it. If gaming and other digital activity crowds out more
traditional play, thats seen as a problem. In a June 2013
summary of The Evolution of Play report, The NPD Group
said almost 40% of parents felt their child is spending less
time with traditional toys because of electronic devices.
Worrying about kids over-connectedness, it said, parents
crave balance between digital and nondigital pastimes.
Some game makers address this concern with video
games that entail using a physical toy in conjunction with
the digital device. Cai cited Activisions Skylanders as
an example. For parents, he said, Its easy for them to
understand: Its a collectible, its a little figurine, its a toy.
And for the kids, not only do they get that, but theyre
getting a ton of game play on their consoles or PCs
or smartphones.

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11

CONCLUSIONS
TV remains the biggest single element of kids media
usage. But TV doesnt mean what it did a generation
ago. Many kids get video content via DVR timeshifting
and streaming. Parents have embraced services like
Netflix as a way of satisfying kids appetite for video while
sparing them commercials.
About half of kids younger than age 12 are internet
users. The amount of time they spend using the internet
on a computer is modest, though, in part because theyre
much less likely to have a computer than a TV set in their
own room. The proportion of kids who are online, and the
time they spend there, increases as they move through
their school years.
Social networking in the grown-up sense is not a
major part of kids digital activity. Social sites age
restrictions combine with parental rules to keep most kids
off the sites where adults typically conduct their online
social lives. Newer sites that are a big deal for young
adults have a negligible constituency among young kids.
But kids do engage in games and virtual worlds that have
a social aspect.

EMARKETER INTERVIEWS
What Kids Can Expect From Netflixs Upcoming
Animated Programs
Marjorie Cohn
Head of Television
DreamWorks Animation
Interview conducted on May 2, 2014

Cartoon Network Serves Kids Platform-Specific

Programming
Jeffrey Grant
Senior Vice President, Research
Turner Broadcasting System, Animation,
Young Adults and Kids Media

Michael Ouweleen
Senior Vice President and Group Creative Director
Cartoon Network, Creative Group,
Turner Broadcasting System
Interviews conducted on May 2, 2014

Carla Fisher
Founder and President
No Crusts Interactive
Interview conducted on May 2, 2014

Few kids have their own smartphone. Many have

access to a parents smartphone, though. And many
parents have downloaded multiple kid-centered apps to
the parental phone. The phenomenon of kids making
in-app purchases has become a sore point.
True to stereotype, kids are keen on electronic games.
But they dont spend as much time gaming as popular
wisdom may suggest. Thats fine with parents, many of
whom regard games as a negative influence.

David Kleeman
Senior Vice President, Insights Programs
and PlayVangelist
PlayCollective
Interview conducted on May 1, 2014

Linda Simensky
Vice President, Childrens Programming
PBS
Interview conducted on May 8, 2014

Marisa Wolsky
Executive Producer
WGBH
Interview conducted on May 6, 2014

Michael Cai
Senior Vice President, Research
Interpret
Interview conducted on April 30, 2014

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12

RELATED EMARKETER REPORT

US Teens: Sizing Up the Selfie-Expressive Generation

RELATED LINKS
AOL
BabyCenter
Common Sense Media
Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
GfK
Harris Interactive
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
Ipsos MediaCT
Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
KidSay
Nielsen
PBS KIDS
Project Tomorrow
Smarty Pants
The NPD Group

EDITORIAL AND
PRODUCTION CONTRIBUTORS
Cliff Annicelli
Ben Clague
Joanne DiCamillo
Noah Elkin
Stephanie Meyer
Dana Hill
Kris Oser
Ezra Palmer
Heather Price
Katharine Ulrich

Managing Editor, Reports

Chart Data Specialist
Senior Production Artist
Executive Editor
Senior Production Artist
Director of Production
Deputy Editorial Director
Editorial Director
Copy Editor
Copy Editor

DIGITAL KIDS: DIGITAL NATIVES WITH ANALOG TENDENCIES

2014 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 13

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