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The AVG Digital Diaries Report - How has technology changed childhood?

Introduction In October 2010 we asked the following question at AVG: How has technology changed childhood? Technology is part of growing up today in a way that would have been unimaginable 30 or 40 years ago. But is it actually fundamentally changing the nature of what it means to be a child, and the danger is that parents sleep-walk through these changes. Our research into technology and changing childhoods, led us to create a series called Digital Diaries, a comprehensive, global report looking at how technology and the Internet is affecting children from the moment they are born. Since November 2010 we have released five waves of Digital Diaries research. Every stage concentrates on different age groups andsurveys over 2000 parents worldwide with children. . Our first stage of research, from birth to two years old led us to discover that children now often have an online existence before they are even born. In stage two, we found that toddlers are learning so called techskills before lifeskills. Stage three saw us learn that kids graduate from child to adult social networks at around the age of 11. And our most recent stage, found that parental anxiety about what their teens get up to online is making many mothers and fathers secretly check their kids' Facebook accounts when they are as old as 16 or 17. This report pulls together key learnings from each stage to give a comprehensiveoverview of all five stages. . Methodology Each Digital Diaries stage involved 2000 plus (stages 1-3) and 4000 plus (stages 4-5) parents being asked questions about the Internet and their children.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

The five stages surveyed parents with kids aged 0-2, 2-5, 6-9, 10-13 and 14-17. The 11 countries involved in the research were the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Czech Republic, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK. Research Now carried out the research on AVG's behalf. Stage One - Digital Births (ages 0-2) Uploading ante-natal scans, giving children an online album from birth, and in some cases even creating email addresses for babies. Todays parents are increasingly building a digital history for their children from the moment they are born, with that online footprint following them around for the rest of their lives.

These were the key findings of our first Digital Diaries report, Digital Births, where we focused on infants (age 0-2). In particular, the research showed that: 81% of children under two currently have some kind of digital dossier or footprint, with images of them posted online. In the US that rises to 92%. Though the average digital birth of children happens at around six months, a third (33%) of children have information and photos online within weeks of being born. In the UK, 37% of newborns have an online life from birth, whereas in Australia and New Zealand the figure is 41%.
AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

A quarter (23%) of children have had their pre-birth scans uploaded to the Internet. This figure rises to 34% in the US, while in Canada the figure is even higher at 37%. Fewer parents share scans of their children in France (13%), Italy (14%) and Germany (15%) Seven percent of babies and toddlers have even an email address created for them by their parents and five percent have a social network profile. When asked what motivates parents to post images of their babies on the Internet, more than 70% said it was to share with friends and family. Lastly, AVG asked mothers how concerned they are (on a scale of one to five with five being very concerned) about the amount of online information available for their children in future years. Overall, mothers were moderately concerned (average 3.5), with Spanish mothers being the most (3.9) and Canadian mothers the least (3.1) worried. Stage Two - 'Digital Skills' (ages 2-5) Fast forward two years and as our research shows, the typical child has already had whole Facebook albums devoted to him / her, and in some cases has acquired an email address years before even being able to read and write. What happens when s/he learns how to walk and talk and starts to get both a sense of identity, and a sense of independence? Our next stage, Digital Skills, which looked at toddlers (aged 2-5) showed that many have gadgets thrust upon them at a very early age, with the result that a basic proficiency in so-called tech skills is replacing what you could call life skills abilities. In particular, we found that: More small children can play a computer game than ride a bike. 58% of children aged 2-5 know how to play a 'basic' computer game. For the UK and France that jumps to 70%. Even 44% of 2-3 year olds have the ability to play a computer game. By comparison, 43% of kids 2-3 can ride a bike. More kids aged 2-5 can play with a smartphone application (19%) than tie his / her shoelaces (9%). Almost as many 2-3 year olds (17%) can play with a smartphone application as 4-5 year olds (21%).
AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

More small children can open a web browser (25%) than swim unaided (20%) There is no tech gender divide between young boys and girls. As many boys (58%) as girls (59%) can play a computer game or make a mobile phone call (28% boys, 29% girls).

European children aged 2-5 lead their US counterparts in knowing how to make a mobile phone call (44% Italy vs 25% for the US), playing a computer game (70% UK vs 61% US) and operating a computer mouse (78% France vs 67% US). Stage Three - Digital Playground (ages 6-9) If infants acquire a digital identity, and toddlers start learning digital skills, then the early school (ages 6-9) years is when kids really embark on the road of using the Internet to communicate and socialize. In the third digital playground study, we found that: More than half (51 percent) of 6- to 9-year-olds use some kind of childrens social network such as Club Penguin or WebKinz. However, 58 percent of their parents admit they are not well-informed about their childrens online social networks. Roughly one in five use email, and despite being underage, 14 percent are on Facebook, according to their parents. 47 percent of 6- to 9-year-olds talk to their friends on the Internet.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

School also marks the start of children experiencing some of the more unpleasant sides of the Internet. Almost one in six 6- to 9-year-olds and one in five 8- to 9-year-olds have experienced what their parents consider objectionable or aggressive behavior online.

American children average four hours online each week, slightly more than the worldwide average of 3.5 hours per week. 58 percent of parents admit they are neither well-informed nor understand their childrens online social networks. Meanwhile only 56 percent of parents were certain their family computer has parental controls or safety programs in place. Stage Four - Digital maturity (aged 10-13) As our research showed, by the time s/he is 10, the average child is completely familiar with the concept of the Internet as a communications tool. In fact, just as children start losing interest in kids specific TV shows before they are teens, so kids start to abandon child-specific social networks for the likes of Facebook. The fourth Digital Diaires report, Digital Maturity, showed that this happens on average when they are 11 years old. 58% of parents with children aged 10-13 told us that their kids have accessed a mainstream social network. Sites like Facebook or Twitter, or regional specific sites like the Spanish Tuenti.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

Despite Facebook in theory barring access to the under 13s, in Spain and Italy most are on at age ten, in the US, US, UK, Canada, France, Australia, New Zealand it is 11, while in Germany most graduate to these sites at 12.

Parents are aware that this is happening, and so most try and monitor their kids activity on these sites. Two-thirdsof parents claim to know their kids passwords and 60% access their childrens computers while they are gone. However, it is debatable how effective a supervision tool this really is. Other results from Digital Playground however point to kids being increasingly able to circumvent their parents: A majority of 10-13 year old kids in every country except New Zealand and (significantly) Japan have their own PC. In the UK, most 10-13 year olds have the PC in the privacy of their own bedroom, so away from parental eyes. Not only do many 10-13 year olds go online in their bedrooms, a significant number are on social media via their phones - often outside of the family home. 44% of 10-13 year olds access social networks from their phones. In the United States, the figure is 56%. Stage five - Digital Coming of age (ages 14-17) Our Digital Playground report showed most parents secretly keep tabs on their pre-teens online activity. In fact, the final Digital Diaries report indicates that this activity in many cases carries on right until adulthood.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

Released in April 2012, Digital Coming of Age looks at 14-17 years. Kids who at the upper end of that age range can in many countries leave school to enter employment, get married and drive a car. Yet many arent fully trusted on the Internet by their parents. We found that:

A majority of parents in the USA (61%), Spain (61%), Italy (54%) and Canada (54%) admit to secretly accessing their teens Facebook account without them knowing. Across all 11 countries, 44% admitted to doing this with mothers (49%) more likely to check up on their teenage kids than fathers (39%). Though 48% of parents of 14 year old children access their kids Facebook accounts, a significant (40%) number of parents of 17 year olds still do so. In the USA, almost 60%parents with a 17 year old child (59%) have at some point gone into their Facebook account without them knowing. Parents concern about what their teenage kids get up to online can be seen in the fact that one in five parents (20%) in the UK and US and over one in four in Australia (27%) and New Zealand (26%) have seen what they deem to be explicit or abusive messages on their teenagers social media account via their PC. Many parents believe their teens are using their smartphones inappropriately with 21% of American, 22% of Australian and 23% of British parents suspecting their kids of sexting or sending sexually explicit SMS messages.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

A majority of parents in Spain (65%) and Italy (57%) fear that what their teens post on social networks now will harm their college, career or dating prospects in the future. In the US (40%) and Australia (42%) around 40% are concerned, while UK parents are somewhat more relaxed with only 30% being worried about their teens digital footprint. With most 14-17 year olds in secondary school, teachers have a big part to play in educating teens about responsible Internet use. UK parents in particular give their kids teachers high marks with 59% saying that they do a good or very good job of preparing teens for digital adulthood, compared with 21% that feel they do a bad job. A majority of Spanish (54%) and Australian (53%) parents likewise rate teachers as good or very good, while US parents (49%) are more ambivalent. Italian parents however (35% good job / 39% bad job) believe that when it comes to the Internet, the Italian schools system is failing their kids. Conclusion - Parents are giving children a digital existence. Kids are then making that existence their own The main conclusion that we can draw from our Digital Diaires research is this: Parents need to be conscious about the way their kids are interacting with technology from a very early age and not just from when they are at school. By then, s/he will have acquired a certain amount of digital proficiency and so will his / her peers. Yes, it is now normal for the average 30 or 40 year old to be on social media and to also be familiar with the online world. However, it is a given that children and teenagers interact differently with each other than their parents do with their friends, and this manifests itself online as well. The end result is that parents can feel lost andor anxious about what their children are doing on the Internet, with the result that even many parents with kids in their late teens are secretly keeping tabs on their childrens online activity as a way of keeping up. At AVG we recommend parents follow some common-sense guidelines, almost from the moment a child is born:

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

1 - When your child comes into the world, it is only natural to want to share your joy, and social media is an obvious way of doing that. However, you are ultimately creating the digital footprint of a child that s/he will build on for the rest of their lives. That in itself, should give you pause for thought about the kind of digital identity you want him / her to have. More importantly, now is a good time for you to check and double-check your social media privacy settings. Are you really sure only close friends and family can see what you are posting? 2 - Weve all seen it. The toddler with his mother or fathers smartphone or iPad in a restaurant. In many ways for todays harassed parents the mobile device has replaced the Television set about what to put in front of a child when you want some peace and space. Equipping a very young child with basic tech skills and taking advantage of the many excellent applications and programmes that exist for toddlers is no bad thing. The problem comes when pre-schoolers are handed the gadget and just left to get on with it. This is a critical age when the habits kids pick up will be with them for their whole lives. Rather than it being an almost unconscious decision, parents need to really guide their children through every stage of the process. There also needs to be a healthy balance with learning to use tech devices, and still acquiring the kind of real world skills that a generation ago would have been taken for granted. 3 - By the time they are in school, the basics of good online behavior should be instilled in a child. Just as you wouldnt allow a child out on a bike without a helmet, or in a car without a seat belt, so they need to understand the basics of online safety. Though there is certainly a debate about the wisdom of letting 11 and 12 year olds on Facebook, for eight and nine year olds it is almost certainly too young and parents need to take care to keep them on kids specific sites and networks that are monitored. Six to nine is also the age when many kids start to use PCs, and having some kind of family safety product installed, such as AVG Family Safety, is critical.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

Finally, kids need to be aware that many of the rules around bullying and abusive behavior that exist in the offline world, also apply online. You would want your child to tell you if s/he is being bullied in class. S/he also needs to tell you if that behavior is happening on the Internet. 4 - Just as many pre-teens watch mainstream TV shows and are fully immersed in popular culture, most are moving onto the main, adult-focused social networks. When it comes to 10-13 year olds, boundaries, dialogue and supervision are absolutely key to helping keep your children safe oinline. Though there has been a lot of debate around the topic, Facebooks terms of service still says that under13s should not have accounts. The decision is ultimately the parents, but this is something to bear in mind. As our research shows, most parents claim to know their childrens passwords. This is sensible, but do you also know how s/he is accessing his / her cellphone? The opportunities for children in this age group to learn and develop in this age range are vast. As are the risks associated with them. You need to be part of your childs digital development at this stage in their lives and dialog to help walk them through it is a good way to establish guidelines and safety, as well as developing strong online relationships with your kids You also need to be up-front about the controls you have put in place, for example being able to access their devices, and why you are doing so. 5 - By the time they are teenagers, many teens have acquired a level of tech independence that can both confuse and concern many parents. However, leaving aside the rights and wrongs of accessing a teenagers social media account, there are a lot of questions about how effective this really is. Almost every teen now has an Internet enabled smartphone, which gives them a large degree of freedom away from parental eyes. Wanting to make sure that a teenager is safe online and that s/he isnt posting anything that might affect his / her future educational prospects is only natural. But especially when you get to 16-17 year olds, you are not talking about children anymore.

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

An open discussion about how they use technology and working with teens to make them aware that colleges and employers now routinely carry out online searches of applicants is important By the time they are ready to leave the parental home for further education, or for a job, as a parent you want to make sure that they are leaving home with an adult sense of taking responsibility for their actions. That sense of responsibility is just as important in the online world as it is in the real world. Overall, every parent has to find their own approach, but speaking openly with your kids about their online activity is a great step forward. All five digital diaries reports, a range of infographics, videos, and guides produced by parenting organization Childhood Matters is available online at avgdigitaldiaries.com For further information about this report, or any of the Digital Diaries stages please call the AVG team at Rabbit - +44(0) 208 123 9541 / avg@therabbitagency.com

AVG Digital Diaries, for more information, http://www.avgdigitaldiaries.com avg@therabbitagency.com

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