By Amanda Hoh
Children now spend more time on the internet than watching television, according to a survey of young Australians aged six to 13.
In 2016 kids spent an average of 12 hours a week online compared to 10.5 hours spent in front of the TV.
The online figure is nearly double the time reported in 2008 when the survey, conducted by research company Roy Morgan, began.
“It’s been coming for a while, but it was about mid-2016 when internet finally overtook television in terms of time spent,” Sean Ellis, researcher with Roy Morgan, said.
Researchers conducted face-to-face surveys of about 2,500 children across Australia throughout the year.
While television was still the number one entertainment of choice at home, internet use was expected to surpass TV in the next two years.
The results correlated with the increased use of mobile and tablet devices by children outside the home such as at school, on the bus, or when “out and about”.
About three-quarters of the children surveyed regularly used tablets, while 74 per cent of 12 to 13-year-olds surfed the web via a mobile phone.
The bulk of that age group owned their own smartphone.
“Not just with kids, but with adults too, they are still holding a device at the same time [as watching TV] and when there’s a two-minute gap or a commercial break … they flick straight to the other device,” Mr Ellis told ABC Radio Sydney
“These things are just what kids are accustomed to.”
The findings are similar to those found by the Australian Institute of Family Studies