MediaPost recently collected and published some interesting statistics about kid psychographics. Here is an overview:
COMPUTERS (via Packaged Facts)
- BOYS & GIRLS
general = Kids are most likely to spend their time on computers playing games.
younger = 80% use computers at school, and 75% use computers at home.
older = 90% use computers at school, and 85% use computers at home.
- BOYS
older = 20% (ages 9-11) have a computer in their room. - GIRLS
older = 25% (ages 9-11) have a computer in their room.
INTERNET (via Packaged Facts, eMarketer, & Nielsen Online)
- BOYS & GIRLS
general = The majority of kids (ages 6-11) use the Internet. Kids (ages 2-11) viewed more online video from home than adults during the month of April (51 streams per child viewer versus 44 per adult viewer). The number of children who are members of a virtual world is expected to rise from about 8 million in 2007 to 20 million by 2011. - BOYS
older = 55% (ages 9-11) use the Internet for less than an hour or not at all during the past week. - GIRLS
older = 46% (ages 9-11) use the Internet for less than an hour or not at all during the past week.
TV (via Packaged Facts)
- BOYS & GIRLS
general = Half of the 10 Web sites most popular among kids (ages 6-11) are sites directly related to television networks.
older = 40% (ages 9-11) watch two or more hours of television on school days.
MOBILE PHONES (via IDC)
- BOYS & GIRLS
younger = By 2010 there will be 9 million cell phone users in the U.S. (ages <9).
BOOKS (via Packaged Facts)
- BOYS & GIRLS
general = The majority of kids read books other than schoolbooks. Multicultural kids are as likely as non-Hispanic white kids to read books outside of school.
- GIRLS
general = Girls are more likely than boys to read books.
younger = Interest in reading books is highest among girls (ages 7-9).
TOYS (via Packaged Facts)
- BOYS & GIRLS
general = Multicultural kids are more likely to have action figures and enter contests and sweepstakes, and less likely to have board games and collect cards.
- BOYS
younger = Most younger boys still have cars and trucks, crayons, building sets, water guns, puzzles and stuffed toys. 80% of boys (age 6) own action figures.
older = Older boys are partial to card games. 49% of boys (age 11) own action figures.
- GIRLS
general = Most girls own toys such as crayons, clothes and accessories for dolls, card games, stuffed animals and arts and crafts activity kits. 90% of girls (ages 6-10) own dolls.
older = Interest in dolls does not begin dropping off until age 11
To summarize, kids are computer savvy but may not be big Internet users yet. They still like books, toys, and traditional things, but a growing number enjoy the luxury of a mobile phone. They still watch a lot of TV, and the big companies that control the shows they watch seem to also be doing the best job at reaching them whenever they go online. In other words, they are still “kids” but just with computers, Internet, and mobile phones.
For Discussion:
- What are some trends you have noticed about the lifestyles of today’s kids?
Statistics always need to be seen in the greater context. While I’m sure there’s an absolute (or perhaps better an ‘instantaneous’) truth to those numbers, we also must remember where the primary level of influence is for the kids sampled - until the age of 13-14, it’s their parents. And their parents are changing.
As new parents come along that are more connected to the internet, it seems likely that their kids will in turn become more connected too, as is evidenced by the fact that the stats you quote include 2-year-olds(!) in the online video numbers. This is why I called it ‘instantaneous’ - their culture will inevitably move away from this model.