Too young for a smartphone?

Results of a survey released on Tuesday (29.04.2014) by German IT industry lobby group BITKOM showed children aged 10 average 22 minutes of screen time daily. Nine percent of them use a smartphone to access their chosen online portal. By the age of 12, the organization reported, many children have their own smartphone and by 14 a large majority of teenagers are active within the world of social media via their phones. Researchers noted the number of users accessing the Internet via a smartphone decreases to 47 percent in people aged over 19.

The "Kinder und Jugend 3.0" ("Children and Young People 3.0") study showed interest in social media begins with children as young as 10 and 11 years. At that age, more than 10 percent of young Internet users are active on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Whatsapp. This figure increases dramatically by the time children reach the ages of 12 and 13 - where 42 percent owned at least one social media account. Sixty-five percent of teenagers aged between 14 and 15 told researchers they were active on social media sites.