Childrens Media Use and Attitudes Report 2023

Children and
Parents: Media
Use and Attitudes
Published 29 March 2023
Welsh version available

Contents
Section
1. Overview 1
2. The children’s media use landscape 7
3. From toddler to teen: plotting media habits by age 19
4. Girls and boys 30
5. Being online: experiences and attitudes 34
6. Critical understanding among children 40
7. Media use by nation: a snapshot 47
Children and parents: media use and attitudes report 2023
1. Overview
Purpose of this report
The Communications Act 2003 places a responsibility on Ofcom to promote, and to carry out,
research into media literacy. We define media literacy as ‘the ability to use, understand and create
media and communications in a variety of contexts’.
This report looks at media use, attitudes and understanding among children aged 3-17. It also
includes findings on parents’ views about their children’s media use, and how parents of children
aged 3-17 monitor and manage their children’s online activity.
The report is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of children’s media experiences in 2022
as a reference for industry, policymakers, academics and the general public, and forms part of our
wider Making Sense of Media programme 1. For more information about how to access and explore
the data, including those of previous years, please see our resource links at the end of the report.
3-17-year-olds’ media use and attitudes: summary of key findings

Online access and usage
The majority of homes with children aged 0-18 (97%) had access to the internet in 2022 2,
significantly higher than the average for all households (93%). Most children aged 3-17 went online
(at home or elsewhere) via mobile phones (69%) and tablets (64%), although the types of devices
used vary by age of child. We dedicate a section of this report to examining each age group in more
detail.
Children’s viewing habits

Children’s TV watching behaviour continues to evolve. Viewing of broadcast TV live via a TV set
declined again this year, falling by 20% for 4-15-year-olds, who went from viewing just under four
and half hours a week in 2021 to just over three and a half hours a week in 2022. However, watching
any broadcast TV, via a combination of live, recorded playback and broadcaster on-demand services
(BVoD) (at just over five hours a week), on any device in the home, exceeded viewing of subscription
on-demand services (SVoD) (at just under four and a half hours). 3
Viewing videos on online video-sharing platforms 4 (VSPs) such as YouTube or TikTok remained a
near-universal activity (96%); and while viewing live-streamed content online remained stable at
58%, that figure rises to 80% among 16-17-year-olds vs all children.
Viewing habits relating to VSPs change by age. YouTube was the most-used VSP among all children
aged 3-17 for watching videos (83%). But older children, primarily those aged 8 and over, used a
1 More information on our Media Literacy research programme can be found here: Our media literacy research
2 Ofcom’s Technology Tracker data tables
3 ‘Broadcast TV live’ refers to viewing done at the time it was broadcast on a linear channel only. BARB | Broadcasters
Audience Research Board

4 Regulating video-sharing platforms: what you need to know - Ofcom
1
greater range of platforms than those aged 3-7. For example, 16-17-year-olds used an average of
three VSPs for this purpose, including TikTok (62%) and Instagram (54%).
This year’s Children’s Media Lives qualitative research 5 highlighted how children in 2022 were drawn
to certain themes and production styles in the TV, film and video content they watched: this
included a strong ‘dramatic’ element, often in the form of interpersonal conflict; split-screen
formats; and fast-paced or deliberately choppy editing.
Overall trends for apps and sites

YouTube was the most used online platform 6 among 3-17-year-olds (88%), followed by WhatsApp
(55%), TikTok (53%), Snapchat (46%), Instagram (41%) and Facebook (34%). Use of WhatsApp,
TikTok and Snapchat increased from 2021 (up from 53%, 50% and 42% respectively), while Facebook
was less popular this year (down from 40%).
Playing video games

About nine in ten children (89%) played video games 7, although not always in the same way. For
example, gaming via a console or handheld games player was more common among boys (73%) than
girls (45%). There were also differences in the types of games played, for example ‘shooter’ games
such as Call of Duty or Star Wars: Battlefront were higher for boys (38%) than for girls (12%), and
puzzles or quizzes were more likely to be played by girls (40% vs 23%).
In terms of shifts within specific age groups, fewer children aged 3-4 were playing video games this
year, and there was also a decrease in the proportion of 5-7-year-olds gaming online.
Differences in parental attitudes towards their child’s gaming were also evident; for example,
parents of boys were more likely than parents of girls to have rules in place (92% vs 84%).
Interacting with others

Playing video games has a socially interactive dimension. A key reason children aged 3-17 said they
played was to ‘hang out with friends’ (24%) 8. On top of this, our study found that children aged 8-17
used games as a way of playing with (55%) and chatting with (47%) people they knew. Of more
concern is that 25% played with, and 22% talked to, people they didn’t know outside the game.
The most common way of interacting was directly communicating via messaging/calling apps or
sites, which were used by 79% of 3-17-year-olds overall, and almost all children aged 12-17. The
most used app for this purpose among children aged 3-17 was WhatsApp (55%), followed by
Snapchat (38%) and FaceTime (32%).
Social media apps and sites allow children to actively connect with others, and 30% of 8-17-year-olds
who used them ‘share, comment, or post things’. Girls using social media were more likely to be
active in this way than boys (34% vs 27%) and more likely to have posted their own videos on
sharing apps or sites, particularly those aged 12-17 (52%, vs 41% of boys aged 12-17).
5 Ofcom’s Children’s Media Lives: Year 9 report

6 Within this study, a platform is a term for an app and site used for watching or uploading videos, viewing or producing
live-streamed content, social media, and video calling or messaging.
7 Defined in our survey as playing games via an electronic device
8 The Insights Family asked children ‘What are the main reasons you play video games?’. Asked of those aged 3-17: 7763
2
Attitudes and experiences in the online space

Parents and children identified positive benefits of being online, especially in relation to learning
(81% children, 84% parents) and to building and maintaining friendships (68% children, 65%
parents). Compared to last year, children were more positive about social media; more likely to say
that it makes them happy all or most of the time (67%, up from 59%), and that it helps them feel
closer to their friends (66%, up from 61%).
However, parents of 3-17-year-olds overall felt that the risks to their child of using social media,
messaging or video sharing apps/sites outweighed the benefits (42%), although parents of children
aged 12-15 (33%) and 16-17 (41%) were more likely than those of younger children (3-11) to
disagree with this statement.
Children’s actual experiences online were not always positive. Almost three in ten children aged 8-
17 (29%) had experienced someone being nasty or hurtful to them via apps or platforms; this
contrasted with two in ten having this experience face to face (20%).
Parents expressed concerns about many aspects of children’s media use, including being bullied
online (70%) or via games (54%), but the most common concerns among parents related to their
child seeing content that was inappropriate for their age (75%), or ‘adult’ or sexual content (73%).
Children’s use of social media in proactively positive ways has decreased over the past year. For
example, fewer had sent supportive messages to friends who are having a hard time (51% in 2022 vs
61% in 2021). This behavioural shift was in evidence among our Children’s Media Lives participants,
who were using online communications platforms more for viewing content than for actively
engaging with friends.
Critical understanding
This year, more children aged 8-17 than in 2021 correctly identified advertising in search results
(41% vs 37%). Older children (aged 12-17) were also asked about paid partnerships on social media,
and they were more likely to be able to identify these than to be able to identify advertising in
search results (77% vs 46% respectively).
Children aged 8-17 were less likely to believe information from social media apps or sites compared
to other sources they used: a third said that they believed all or most of what they see on social
media to be true (32%), while two-thirds thought the same for news apps and sites (66%), and 77%
for websites used for school or homework.
However, the level of confidence with which 12-17-year-olds felt they could identify what was real
or fake online did not always match their ability. Nearly a quarter (23%) of children claimed to be
confident in their ability to identify what is real or fake online but could not correctly identify a fake
social media profile when presented with one during the survey. Although not an insignificant
number of children, this is a reduction from 27% in 2021.
3
Guide to report contents

Section 1. Overview and summary of key findings
The overview section (above) outlines the purpose of this report and provides a summary of key
findings related to the media use and attitudes of 3-17-year-olds.
Section 2. The children’s media landscape

Much has changed in recent years in terms of the types of media children can access and the
technology they use to do so. However, the key functions are broadly similar in terms of providing
content to view, listen to, read, and facilitate communication.
In this section we provide a high-level overview of children’s media habits: how they access media,
what they watch, listen to, and engage with, with a particular focus on two key activities for
children: playing and learning.
Section 3: From toddler to teen: plotting media habits by age

Almost all children are online, but media engagement looks very different depending on their age.
We profile five separate age groups in ascending order, focusing on the devices used and the
activities undertaken, providing insight into the balance between online and offline life for children,
and how parents monitor their child’s online behaviour.
Section 4: Girls and boys

Playing video games and using social media are popular for both boys and girls. However, there are
differences in terms of their habits regarding these activities, and the types of platforms and devices
they may use, which we outline in this section.
Section 5: Being online: experiences and attitudes

This section provides a brief overview of both the positive and the negative aspects of the online
space from the perspective of children themselves, and of their parents or guardians.
We also examine the strategies and tools parents have in place to protect their child’s online safety,
including the role of talking about online safety.
Section 6: Online critical understanding among children

Here we focus on three key areas of online critical understanding for children: sources they trust to
provide reliable and accurate information (with a focus on news); their approach to assessing what is
real or fake on social media; and their ability to understand the internet as a commercial landscape.
Section 7: Media use by nation: a snapshot

This section contains an illustrative overview of media use among 3-17-year-olds across the four UK
nations – England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
4
Data used in this report

Ofcom’s media literacy tracking studies
The key data sources for this report are our children’s media literacy tracking studies (referred to in
this document as ‘our trackers’, or ‘our studies’). These quantitative studies measure a range of
topics related to children’s media use, including consumption habits, understanding, attitudes and
experiences, and how parents view and manage their child’s media consumption.
A summary of sample sizes and data collection methods is shown in the table below. A more
detailed description of data collection and analysis for these studies can be found in the
accompanying analytical Annex 9 to this report, and in the Technical Report 10 published alongside the
data 11. Where data is related to children aged 3-7, this is provided by parents or guardians rather
than by the children themselves.
Our survey methodology is unchanged from that used in 2021, and we can make year-on-year
comparisons where there is consistency in the question text. Before 2021, comparison is not
possible, due to survey reorganisation and changes to data collection due to the impact of the Covid-
19 pandemic.
Where year-on-year changes, or differences by age or gender, have been identified in this report,
they will have been verified as ‘statistically significant’ which means that they are at least 95%
certain to relate to a difference in the population. More detail on statistical differences can be
found in the Annex.
Alongside this report we have published data tables 12 which highlight any differences for vulnerable
children which we have categorised in our surveys as those who have an ‘impacting or limiting’
9 Annex 1: sources and methodologies

10 Technical report
11 Ofcom’s Statistical release calendar 2023 houses the 2022 data tables
12 Data tables with categories of ‘Any impacting or limiting conditions’ and ‘Most/potentially/least financially vulnerable’ by
age group: Statistical release calendar 2023 - Ofcom

5
condition 13, or are in households which are considered financially vulnerable 14. This data is provided
at an overall level for 3-17s, and per age group.
Supplemental contextual data

Within this report, findings and quotations from our longitudinal qualitative study Children’s Media
Lives 15 provide examples of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of the behaviours measured by our trackers.
We have also included, where relevant, data and insight from a selection of other Ofcom and third-
party sources, to help build a more complete picture of children’s media activities. These sources are
listed here:
• Audience measurement data from the UK’s television audience measurement body, BARB 16
• Syndicated research studies from agencies CHILDWISE 17 and The Insights Family 18
• Ofcom data sources:

Study title Coverage relevant to report
Adults’ Media Literacy core tracking study 19 Access to devices suitable for learning
Technology Tracker 20 Household internet access, TV and radio in household
News Consumption Survey 21 Children’s usage of news sources
Cross-Platform Media Tracker 22 Children’s experiences of TV
BBC Children’s Performance Tracker 23 Uses of BBC educational resources
It is important to note that some of the sources listed above do not always align with our tracking
studies in terms of age groupings, and comparison between sources can be limited due to
differences in the way questions are asked, or the method of data collection used 24.
13 A definition based on parent responses to the question ‘Which of these – if any – impact or limit [your child]’s daily
activities?’ Note: parents were provided a list of different types of access needs and conditions that may be associated with
those.
14
Financial vulnerability is a measure that Ofcom has devised to better understand the impact of income and household
composition on the ownership and use of communications services
15 Note that the names used when referring to Children’s Media Lives participants are pseudonyms to protect their
identity.
16 BARB data based on the full year of 2022: BARB | Broadcasters Audience Research Board
17 CHILDWISE interviewed 2802 children aged between 5 to 18 years old from September to November 2022, more details
can be found in Annex 1.

18 The Insights Family interviewed 10,173 children aged between 3 to 17 years old in 2022, more details can be found in
Annex 1.
19 Ofcom’s Adult’s Media Literacy core tracking study 2022
21 Ofcom’s News Consumption Report
22 Ofcom’s Cross-Platform Media Tracker
23 Ofcom’s BCC Children's Performance Tracker
24 For more detail on all these sources, see Annex 1: report sources and methodologies
6
2. The children’s media use landscape

Introduction
This section combines data across 3-17-year-olds to give a brief tour of how children are accessing
media and what kinds of activities they are undertaking, including viewing, interacting, listening,
reading, playing, and learning.
Almost all children aged 3-17 went online (97%) in 2022, either at home or elsewhere, with the
figure only slightly lower for 3-4-year-olds (87%), and in this section we describe how the internet
plays an important role in children’s daily lives.
Media and communications devices used and/or accessed by

children
Mobile phones (69%) and tablets (64%) were the most-used devices to go online among 3-17-year-
olds overall. Older children (12-17-year-olds) were most likely to use mobile phones to go online,
while those aged 3-11 were most likely to use a tablet for this purpose.
Ownership of mobile phones increases gradually up to age 8, when the rate of ownership
accelerates to levels that are near-universal among children aged 12 and remains so into adulthood.
This acceleration coincides with the move for many children from primary to secondary school,
which occurs around age 11 and is described in the context of other media in our ‘Toddlers to teens’
section.
7
Data from CHILDWISE 25 also indicates that children own or have access to a range of devices beyond
mobile phones and tablets, as shown below. Notably, most 7-18-year-olds 26 (68%) owned a games
console or handheld player 27 and a further 9% had access to one. Our media literacy study found
that consoles were more likely to be used for gaming by boys, and this, along with other gaming
habits, is described in our section ‘Girls and boys’.
Ofcom’s Technology Tracker 28 found that a TV set was present in nearly all households with children
(97%), whereas a radio (that is listened to) was found in only a minority of the households with
children (29%).
While most children aged 3-17 (85%) viewed TV programmes or films via a TV set, a large majority
(80%) watched this type of content via other devices, including half who used a tablet, and 46% a
mobile phone. Additionally, these devices, including TV sets, were used to watch other forms of
video content, such as live streams and user-generated content.
25CHILDWISE report. Section 1 ownership and access to devices other than console: All 5–18-year-olds 2802/ Section 4:
ownership and access to console: All 7-18-year-olds 1677
26 Games console access and ownership was only asked of children aged 8 or above
27 Console throughout the report is console or handheld games player
8
TV viewing in context
Last year, Children’s Media Lives described how TV was often a backdrop to other media activities.
The data in the following graphic from The Insights Family shows the activities that children
undertook while watching TV, which includes using other devices, such as a mobile (30%).
The Insights Family data also showed that a minority of 3-17-year-olds (23%) usually watched TV
alone, while about half (47%) watched with parents, and a quarter (27%) with siblings 29. This
suggests that watching TV can be a social activity, which is illustrated by the proportion who said
they ‘chatted’ 30 while watching TV (37%).
Content consumption
As with previous years, our media literacy tracking studies show that almost all (97%) children aged
3-17 watched TV programmes or films in some way. In this section we look at the different ways of
viewing this content, and how viewing habits are changing.
Sources of TV content
According to BARB 31, viewing of live broadcast TV via a TV set declined again last year, falling by 20%
for 4-15-year-olds, who went from viewing just under four and half hours a week in 2021 to just over
three and a half hours a week in 2022.
However, watching broadcast TV live is only part of the broadcast picture, even just on the TV set.
When viewing of catch-up TV via recordings or a streaming/on-demand player on the TV set is
included, broadcast viewing rose to four and a quarter hours a week in 2022. This was still a decline
from almost six hours in 2021.
29 The Insights Family asked children aged 3-17 ‘What else do you do while watching your TV?’. Sample size: 10,173
30 While this answer option was presented to children as “chat to people in the room” with offline coverage in mind, it
does not explicitly exclude online interactions. ‘Chatting’ in this context, therefore, includes both online and offline
interactions
31 BARB | Broadcasters Audience Research Board
9
Watching on the TV set is only part of the picture. Fifty-seven percent of 4-15-year-olds watched
broadcast TV on a TV set at least once a week on average in 2022, a fall from 63% in 2021.
Children’s TV viewing behaviour continues to evolve and, as we have seen, they are viewing TV
content on devices other than a TV set. When including these alternative devices and time spent
watching recordings of broadcast TV and on demand/catch-up services from the broadcasters
(BVoD 32), the proportion of children aged 4-15 watching all TV from broadcasters on all devices was
73% on average per week.
Average weekly viewing time for broadcast TV (excluding BVoD viewing) was slightly exceeded by
viewing of subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (SVoD 33) and/ or advertising
funded services (AVoD 34) in 2022.
Type of content/ Measure Children aged 4-15 Aged 4-11 Aged 12-15
service and
description
Broadcast TV (excluding % weekly reach 65% 66% 63%
BVoD)
Average weekly minutes 35 253 37 34
BVoD % weekly reach 38% 40% 35%
Average weekly minutes 58 9 7
SVoD/AVoD % weekly reach 71% 73% 66%
Average weekly minutes 265 40 33
However, when time spent viewing all broadcast TV (4 hours 13 minutes per week) is combined with
time spent using BVoDs such as BBC iPlayer and ITV X (58 minutes), the resulting total exceeds the
total viewing time spent on SVoDs/AVoDs (5hours 11 minutes vs 4 hours 25 minutes).
Types of programming and content
Broadcast content
The most-viewed live broadcast programmes in 2022 on BBC One and ITV1 for children aged 4-11
reflected the landmark TV of that year: the key England matches in the football World Cup (on ITV1)
and the State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II (on BBC One).
32 Broadcaster video-on-demand (BVoD) is viewing content from TV broadcasters (e.g. BBC, ITV) via streaming or catch-up
services
33 Subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) is viewing content from paid-for services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and
Disney+
34 Advertising-Based video-on-demand (AVoD) services where viewers can access content free in return for the inclusion of
advertising.
35 Average weekly minutes are rounded up to the nearer minute
10
The England matches in the football World Cup were also the most watched live broadcast
programmes among the older age group of 12-17s, followed by reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me
Out of Here! – both appearing on ITV1 36.
Video-sharing platform and live-streamed content

Almost all children aged 3-17 (96%) watched videos on any video-sharing platform (VSP 37), although
the types of content they view varies by age, as described in the ‘Toddlers to teens’ section.
Live video streaming is the broadcasting of live video over the internet as it happens. It is distinct
from video-calling services, in that these are streamed, but not live-streamed in real time. Our
tracking study shows that the proportion of children aged 3-17 viewing live-streamed content online
was unchanged from 2021, at 58%, and remained highest among 16-17-year-olds (80%). There are
also some differences in live-stream viewing by gender, which we describe in the ‘Girls and boys’
section.
Content viewing themes from Children’s Media Lives

This year’s Children’s Media Lives research gave us added insight into the specific styles and formats
of content, viewed on TV and online, that children were particularly drawn to in 2022.
Children of all ages reported choosing to watch ‘dramatic’ content in various forms when selecting
TV shows and films to watch. Although ‘drama’ was found in different types of content, there were
common elements that children pulled out as motivating their interest within this genre, from
interpersonal conflict to themes of violence.
“There was quite a lot of drama and it showed everything behind F1 and things like
that…When you think of F1, you just kind of think of the racing aspect of it. But it showed
what it was like from the team’s point of view and the drivers’ point of view and the team
managers and all the rivalries that go on, so it’s pretty cool.”
Niamh, 13
As the children consumed a lot of dramatic content, it was sometimes unclear to them whether it
was based on reality, or a fictional depiction. Moreover, distinguishing fact from fiction did not
appear to be a priority for them. For example, Bryony’s favourite show was Dynasty, a
contemporary reboot of the 1980s soap of the same name. The show streams on Netflix and tells
the fictional story of the personal and business rivalries between two of America’s wealthiest
families. Bryony liked that it gave an insight into how businesses worked.
“It’s about this really rich family. A lot of family drama…. It’s non-fiction. It’s all about the business
and shows like some families can be like that…”
Bryony, 14
36BARB | Broadcasters Audience Research Board

37Video-sharing platforms (VSPs) are a type of online video service which allow users to upload and share videos with the
public. More information can be found on our website: video-sharing platform (VSP) regulation
11
Videos that children watched on social media platforms also had ‘dramatic’ elements. For example,
‘commentary’ formats 38 in online content were popular and drove the children’s interest in
interpersonal drama between influencers, encouraging them to pick sides.
Popular video content on VSPs was often fast-paced, short and highly edited, and seemed to be a
progression from the preference of shorter-form content that we saw in the previous wave, where
some of the children were sometimes unable to sit through films or even episodes of series.
Media for leisure activities

In this section, the role of media in the way children play, listen, and read is explored.
Video gaming in the context of play

Play is a key activity for children and was described by the children’s educational pioneer Maria
Montessori as “the work of the child” 39. While our focus in this report is play via digital media,
traditional toys or games have not disappeared from children’s lives.
For example, The Insights Family 40 reported that in 2022 a large majority (84%) of 3-17-year-olds had
played a board game in the last month (most commonly Monopoly). Toys and games only give way
to video games, in terms of time spent, from age 8 onwards.
As we observed with our Children’s Media Lives participants, video games may be one of their
activities outside school, but not their sole leisure pursuit. This is exemplified by the following
summary of how both digital and non-digital play feature in the life of an 8-year-old involved in the
study:
Frankie, age 8, has lots of hobbies, including multiple sports and Brownies. She likes playing with
dolls and reading when she is at home. Frankie has an Amazon Kids Fire tablet, which she uses to
play the game ‘Gymnastics Salon’. She also has a laptop, which she uses for schoolwork and to play
free solo-player games on the website Poki.com. Sometimes, Frankie will use her mum’s phone and
play the game ‘Hay Day’.
The Insights Family data indicates that video games are not always a child’s most preferred leisure
activity 41. Boys aged 8-17 were as likely to choose football as video games as their favourite hobby
(about one in five). For girls in this age group, video games are not ranked any higher as a favourite
activity than other leisure pursuits (e.g. dancing, listening to music, and arts and crafts).
38 Commentary formats refers to content that involves the video creator commentating on a subject or situation.
39 The Child's Work — Montessori Guide
40 The Insights Family asked children aged 3-17 ‘Which board games have you played with this month?’. Sample size:
10,164
41 The Insights Family asked children ‘What is your favourite hobby?’. Asked of boys aged 8-17: sample size 3,387 and girls
aged 8-17: sample size 3,389

12
Video gaming in focus

Our studies show that among children’s media activities, however, video gaming ranks very highly.
Nine in ten children aged 3-17 (89%) played video games using any of the devices listed in the
graphic below, and of all the media activities we measure, only watching videos on VSPs (96%) and
watching TV (97%) were more widespread. An exception to this is that children aged 3-4 were less
likely to be playing video games (70%); this has declined from 81% year on year.
Most children were gaming using a console (59%), followed by a mobile phone (49%) and a tablet
(43%). Devices used for gaming varied by the age of child, as did the types of game played, but
overall use of tablets for gaming declined year on year (from 50% to 43%) as did the use of desktop/
laptop computers (from 31% to 25%).
According to The Insights Family, the main motivation for children aged 3-17 to play video games
was that it is fun 42 (43%) but other more social factors emerged, such as playing ‘to hang out with
friends’ (24%) and ‘to hang out with family’ (12%).
E-sports (electronic sports) are forms of organised, competitive video game competitions, which can
have significant prize rewards 43 and attract millions of viewers. Data from The Insights Family 44
shows that 7% of 8-17-year-olds participated in e-sports and a further 20% watched them on screen
or at events in 2022. This contrasts to 81% of children within this age group who participated in
sports offline, and 72% who watched sports on screen.
Listening to music and reading

Children may have a varied diet of media activities that they enjoy in their leisure time. According to
The Insights Family, one in ten children aged 16-17 named listening to music as their favourite
hobby, more than double the average for children aged 3-17 overall (4%).
42The Insights Family asked children ‘What are the main (3) reasons you play video games?’. Asked of children aged 3-17
who play video games. Sample size: 7,763
43 Esports: How can they keep growing in 2023? - BBC News. Fortnite: UK player finishes second in e-sports World Cup -
BBC News
44 The Insights Family, proportion of children aged 8-17 who said that they ‘take part in esports’. Sample size: 6,779
13
Children accessed music via a variety of devices and platforms. CHILDWISE 45 reported that children
aged 7-18 used a range of personal devices such as a smartphone, games console or tablet to listen
to music. Radios and smart speakers were the most-used audio-specific devices for listening to
music, but mobile phones were used more than both of these.
Spotify, a music-specific streaming platform, was used by 64% of children aged 9-18 46 to access
music, followed by YouTube (58%), Apple Music, YouTube Music and Amazon Music (all 14%).
CHILDWISE 47 also found that most children aged 5-18 (75%) read physical books for pleasure in
2022. Children also enjoyed reading online content, in the form of blogs or news articles, with a
quarter of 9-18-year-olds 48 (26%) reporting that they read online for an hour or more a day.
45 CHILDWISE Report section 8, children who listen to music via each method: all 7-18: 1677, platforms used to listen to
music: all aged 9-18: 1596
46 Only children aged 9 or above were asked whether they used music-specific streaming platforms
47 CHILDWISE Report section 9, children who ‘ever’ read online: all aged 9-18 (908), children who ever read books for
pleasure: all aged 5-18 (1125)

48 Only children aged 9 or above were asked about whether they read content online
14
Learning online
Most children claim to enjoy learning. According to The Insights Family 49, 95% of children aged 6-17
said that it was certainly or somewhat true that they liked learning new things. Electronic devices
and online resources can provide learning opportunities beyond schoolwork; for example, 12% of
children aged 5-15 in our tracking studies had undertaken coding or programming on one of their
devices and 33% had followed an online ‘how-to’ tutorial to create and do something of their own.
Our data also showed that the majority of children aged 12-15 (83%), and parents of this age group
(90%), thought that being able to go online helps with schoolwork/homework. There are specific
sites for learning, and our BBC Children’s performance tracker 50 notes that 52% of children aged 4-16
used BBC Bitesize for schoolwork or homework in 2022.
Of course, learning online means access to the internet and to appropriate devices. Our Technology
Tracker 51 data shows that 97% of households with a child aged 0-18 had access to the internet at
home, which is significantly higher than the overall average of 93% of households. However, this
also meant that 3% of households with a child aged 0-18 did not have internet access at home.
The impact of device poverty

Being able to use the internet to learn at home depends on access to a connected device that is
suitable for learning. Our research 52 found that in 2022 more than six in ten parents thought their
child had consistent access to a device that connected to the internet and was suitable for using at
49 The Insights Family, proportion of children aged 3-17 who agree that ‘I like learning new things’ is certainly or somewhat
true. Sample size: 10,164
50 Ofcom’s BBC Children’s performance tracker
52 Ofcom’s Adult’s Media Literacy Tracker data tables
15
home for schoolwork, and this was higher for children of secondary school age (77%) compared to
those in primary school (57%).
However, we found that not all children had adequate access to devices for the purposes of learning.
Where the parent said that access to a device suitable for home learning was not consistent, we
asked them to indicate what, if any, the consequences of this were, as shown in the graphic below.
Our tracking studies indicate that more than one in ten children aged 3-17 (12%) only accessed the
internet using a tablet, while one in twenty (5%) only used a mobile phone for this. Phones, and
some tablets, have relatively small screens and may sometimes have less capability in terms of
running office-type software and interfaces, which may make them less suitable than larger-
screened devices, such as laptops, for homework.
Media for interacting

Communication apps and sites provide an array of different opportunities for children to interact
with others online, including messaging and calling, social media, online gaming, posting their own
videos on VSPs and live-streaming content.
Almost eight in ten children aged 3-17 (79%) used apps or sites for messaging or voice/ video calls.
However, in common with many other media activities, this varied by age, from 48% of children
aged 3-4 to 98% of 12-17-year-olds.
Two in three (64%) children aged 3-17 used apps for social media 53, while a third (32%) used apps or
sites to post videos they had made, and 15% live-streamed their own content. More information on
these activities is explored below in ‘Girls and boys’.
53Used an app or site listed for following friends, people or organisations, reading, liking or sharing things -photos,
opinions comments, news, stories, links.
16
In this year’s Children’s Media Lives, we saw less social interaction playing out on social media
platforms. Children were actively curating how they appeared in more public online spaces by
limiting what they posted and who could see it. For example, Bailey, age 8, and Niamh, age 13, both
enjoyed making draft TikTok videos but never – or very rarely – posted them. Children in the study
hardly ever used the chat functions on these platforms, apart from sending each other the odd video
that they had come across on their feed. Most ‘chat’ took place on Snapchat, with all children in the
sample using it as their main app to message friends. Several children in the sample were also part
of multiple group chats, formed by geographical area, friend groups or interests.
Online gaming also provides the opportunity for children to communicate with others, either
through playing or via in-game chat or messaging. Three-quarters of children aged 8-17 (72%)
played games online. A quarter of children this age played games online with people they don’t
know, while 22% chatted to people they don’t know when gaming. This topic is explored in further
detail below, in ‘From toddler to teen’.
17
Apps and sites used by children

YouTube was the most used site or app among children, visited by 88% of the 3-17-year-olds who go
online. This is not surprising, considering that 96% of 3-17-year-olds watch videos online.
WhatsApp and TikTok were used
by about half of 3-17-year-olds
overall, and as indicated by the
arrows on the graphic, our data
shows that the reach of
WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat
was higher in 2022 than in 2021.
In contrast, use of Facebook
among children aged 3-17
dipped from 40% in 2021 to 34%
in 2022.
As the age of children increases, the use of different apps also increases. For example, 25% of
children aged 3-4 used WhatsApp (according to their parents) compared to 54% of 8-11-year-olds
and 80% of 12-17-year-olds. The exception to this is YouTube, which had similar reach across all age
groups – this may be due to children referring to YouTube’s children’s version YouTube Kids, rather
than just the main version.
As observed earlier, mobile ownership increases with the age of the child and is almost universal by
age 12, and the proportion of children who had their own profile 54 on an online communications app
or site 55 grows alongside this. This pattern is illustrated in the figure below.
54 Parents or 3-7s and children themselves aged 8-17 were asked: ‘Below is a list of some of the apps/ sites that you said
earlier that your child uses. Some can be used by anyone, but others need a profile to be set up first. This may involve
choosing a user name, password and a picture for the profile. Please click on those where you have set up a profile for your
child [to parent]/ where you have your own profile [to child]’
55 This could include apps or sites used for messaging/ calls/ video sharing/ social media or live streaming, and excludes
children with profiles on YouTube/YouTube Kids, which ranges from 38% of 3-4 -year-olds to 35% of 16-17-year-olds.
18
3. From toddler to teen: plotting media habits

by age
There is huge variation by age in the way children engage with media, especially when we consider
how children go online, what they do while online, and the types of apps, sites, or platforms they
use for different activities. In this section we have developed a ‘typical’ profile of key media
behaviour for each age band in our study 56 to illustrate the variation by age, as depicted in the
graphics below.
However, as many aspects of an individual child’s life have a bearing on their media behaviour, in
addition to their age, we include a range of supplementary data in addition to our own, to paint a
richer picture of each age group.
Overview of age and stage of media consumption
56Our tracking studies collect data in relation to children aged 3 or above. However, many children do start their media
journey at a younger age, including using devices. CHILDWISE interviews parents of children aged up to 2 years old, and
reports that children of this age may already be able to undertake certain activities using a touch screen, for example, 26%
were able to open apps that they wanted to use and 22% were able to take photos with the device.
19
Age 3-4: Supervised Explorers

By the time children reach 3-4 years old, most will be able to string together a
short sentence of four or more words and answer very simple questions. They
may be able to create basic drawings and name colours. Their motor skills may
also be developing, allowing them to hold objects independently. However,
children aged 3-4 require help from an adult for more complex tasks, such as
serving food or pouring a drink 57.
As Supervised Explorers, children of this age enjoy all sorts of activities, and not
just media. Below we start with their online activities specifically:
Online activities of 3-4-year-olds
As reported by their parent/guardian in our surveys 58, the large majority of children aged 3-4 went
online (87%) in 2022, lower than among older age groups.
Children aged 3-4 went online mainly to watch videos (92%) and were more likely to do so than in
2021 (89%). YouTube was by far their most-used app (87%), and they were more likely to use
YouTube Kids (51%) than the ‘main’ YouTube site (31%). Just under two-fifths of 3-4-year-olds (38%)
had their own profile on YouTube 59, and 14% had a profile on at least one other app or site.
Cartoons, animations, mini-movies or songs were the most watched types of videos among 3-4-year-
olds (81%) and The Insights Family found that Ryan’s World and Blippi were their favourite
YouTubers 60.
Half of 3-4-year-olds (48%) were reported by the parent or guardian in the survey to have used apps
or sites to send messages or make video or voice calls, and those who did had mainly used
WhatsApp (25%) and Facetime (19%). It’s likely that children of this age were receiving help with
these communication activities as they are still developing basic reading and writing skills.
57 Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Important milestones for children to hit by 4-years-old:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/milestones-4yr.html#openPretends
58 Parents of children aged 3-4 and 5-7 complete surveys on their behalf.
59 This includes children who have a profile on YouTube Kids.
60 The Insights Family asked children aged 3-4 ‘Who is your favourite YouTuber?’. Sample size: 1,357.
20
Seven in ten 3-4-year-olds played video games, down from 81% in 2021. The top game categories
among this age group were puzzles or quizzes (35%), creative and building (34%) and action or
adventure (23%). At this age, only a minority played games online (18%).
Devices used by 3-4-year-olds

Tablets were the most-used devices among 3-4-year-olds for going online (75%), playing games
(50%), and watching TV (when excluding a TV set) (67%). However, there was a decline in the
number of children using tablets for gaming purposes, dropping from 63% in 2021 to 50% in 2022.
Less than one in five owned a smartphone, and phones were therefore less-used for each of these
activities than by other age groups.
3-4s: parental oversight

Setting them apart from parents of older children, two-thirds (65%) of parents of children aged 3-4
said they supervised what their child does online by sitting beside them and watching or helping
them with what they are doing. Half of parents of children aged 3-4 reported that their main
approach to online safety was to directly supervise their child, while 21% said their main approach
was to talk to their child.
Although 30% of parents of 3-4-year-olds said they found it hard to control their child’s screen time,
the majority felt that they had achieved good results: over seven in ten (73%) agreed that their child
had a good balance between screen time and doing things offline. This balance is reflected in The
Insights Family 61 data, which shows that 3-4-year-olds spend more time playing with toys/games
than they do video games (101 minutes compared to 38 minutes).
61 The Insights Family, average time children aged 3-4 spent on a range of online and offline activities. Sample size: 1,355.
21
Age 5-7: Increasingly Independent

Between the ages of 5 and 7, children socialise with children of their own age
and form friendships independent of their family. Motor skills become stronger
at this stage, meaning they can carry out more complex tasks without help from
an adult, such as cutting with scissors or tying their shoes. Reading and writing
skills also progress, allowing them to talk more fluently, and their sense of
humour develops, enabling an understanding of simple jokes. 62
Children at this age are Increasingly Independent when it comes to their media
behaviour. Broadly, they enjoy similar media to 3-4-year-olds, but their
development means that they start to explore content and make choices,
although parents are typically still close by to supervise.
Like children aged 3-4, most 5-7-year-olds (93%) watched videos online, as reported by their
parents/guardians. YouTube 63 was again the most popular app or site among this age group (89%),
and they were more likely to use YouTube Kids (41%) than the ‘main’ YouTube app or site (38%).
Nearly two fifths (39%) of 5-7-year-olds had their own profile on YouTube 64. Their use of several
apps, including TikTok (25%) and Instagram (14%), fell this year, unlike for older children.
Reflecting children’s developing sense of humour at this stage, funny videos or ‘joke, prank,
challenge’ videos were popular, watched by six in ten 5-7-year-olds (58%). The Insights Family 65
identified Ryan’s World (8%) and A for Adley (3%) as the most popular YouTubers for this age band.
Although parents/guardians indicated that 59% of 5-7-year-olds used apps or sites to send messages
or make video or voice calls, their child may have been assisted by an adult in this activity, as reading
and writing skills are not yet fully developed at this stage. WhatsApp (29%) and FaceTime (23%)
were the most-used apps for this purpose at this age.
62 Development milestones of 5-7-year-olds as outlined by Welsh Government: development of child aged 5-7.
63 This includes use of YouTube Kids.
64 This includes children who have a profile on YouTube Kids.
65 The Insights Family, favourite YouTubers of children aged 5-7. Sample size: 2,037.
22
Nine in ten 5-7-year-olds (89%) played video games and a third (34%) played video games online,
significantly more than the 3-4 age group. The most-played types of game at this age were creative
and building games (53%), action/ adventure games (37%), and puzzles or quizzes (35%). According
to The Insights Family 66, Roblox was their favourite gaming app.

Tablets were the most-used devices by 5-7-year-olds for going online (86%), watching TV
programmes or films (apart from on a TV set) (67%), and gaming (67%). With gaming more popular
at this age, games consoles were more widely used by 5-7-year-olds for going online (34%) and
playing video games (52%) than 3-4-year-olds.

Parents of 5-7-year-olds were most likely to monitor their child’s online activity by staying nearby
and regularly checking (75%) or by asking their child about what they are doing online (59%).
Although still supervising their child, parents do so at a greater distance than parents of younger
children, with less than half (45%) sitting beside their child and watching or helping with what they
do online. This suggests that children aged 5-7 were using devices more independently than those
aged 3-4.
Most parents of 5-7-year-olds (72%) agreed that their child had a good balance between screen time
and doing other things. As with 3-4-year-olds, The Insights Family 67 indicated that the time 5-7-year-
olds spent playing with toys/games offline was higher than the time they spent playing video games
(1hr 20 minutes compared to 54 minutes). However, our study found that a third of parents still said
they found it hard to control the screen time of their 5-7-year-old.
66 The Insights Family. Children who play video games. Favourite gaming app of children aged 5-7. Sample size: 1,466.
67 The Insights Family. Average time children aged 5-7 spent on a range of online and offline activities. Sample size: 2,033.
23
Age 8-11: Developing Skills

Between the ages of 8-11 children further develop the ability to talk about their
thoughts and feelings 68. Alongside this, they attach emotional importance to
having friends, and their relationships with friends may be strong. However, 8-11-
year-olds are also more susceptible to peer pressure and the influence of others.
Cognitively, they might have an increased attention span and the ability to
understand the viewpoints of others 69.
Children aged 8-11 could be described as developing skills in media. Smartphone
ownership shifts markedly in this group, which correlates with the children’s
transition to secondary school, and they are likely to be starting to undertake a
wider range of online activities without parental intervention.
Children aged 8-11 were doing a wide range of activities online. Most (96%) said they watched
videos online, but unlike 3-7-year-olds, the majority (63%) also reported using social media
platforms. Children aged 8-11 were also more likely than younger children to interact with others by
messaging or calling via an app or site, playing video games online, or watching live streams.
The increase in children who used social media apps at this age was reflected in the types of apps
they had profiles on. It was most common for 8-11-year-olds to have profiles on TikTok (32%) and
WhatsApp (32%), ahead of YouTube (27%) and Snapchat (24%).
As with children aged 3-7, the most-used apps for sending messages or making calls were WhatsApp
(54%) and FaceTime (32%). However, 8-11-year-olds also used social media platforms for this
activity, most commonly Snapchat (28%) and TikTok (26%).
Two-thirds of 8-11-year-olds reported playing games online (67%). Video games involving playing
against multiple people or teams were becoming popular at this age, played by nearly half (46%)
68 Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Important milestones for children aged 6-8:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/middle2.html
24
who play games. In line with this, seven in ten 8-11-year-olds (71%) who played games online said
they had talked to other players through messaging functions or a headset.

As reported by parents, more than half of 8-11-year-olds (55%) owned a mobile phone, a significant
increase on children aged 3-4 and 5-7 (both at 20%). This increase correlates with the move to
secondary school at this stage, which often prompts parents to give their child a phone.
Taking this into account, although tablets were the most-used devices among 8-11-year-olds for
going online (70%) and for watching TV programmes or films (excluding via a TV set) (55%), mobile
phones were also popular for these activities (66% and 39% respectively). Consoles were the most-
used device by this age group for gaming (69%). The move to secondary school also contributed to
the increasing use of desktop or laptop computers to go online (60% of 8-11s vs 24% of 5-7-year-
olds).

At this age there was less direct parental supervision of children’s online activities compared to
younger age groups. Less than a quarter of parents (22%) said they sat beside their 8-11-year-old
child and watched or helped with what they were doing online. Instead, more parents supervised
their child’s online activity by asking their child (70%) or remaining nearby and regularly checking
(69%) what they had been doing online. Parents of this age group were also more likely than parents
of any other age group to have looked at their child’s browsing history (52%).
Seven in ten parents of 8-11-year-olds (68%) agreed that their child had a good balance between
screen time and doing other things. This may reflect increased social activity among this age group:
The Insights Family 70 found that 8-11-year-olds spent more time being with friends per day (1hr 4
minutes) than they did going online or social media (55 minutes).
70 The Insights Family. Average time children aged 8-11 spent on a range of online and offline activities. Sample size: 2,710
25
Age 12-15: Connecting and Creating

Between the ages of 12-15 most children begin puberty and may experience
concerns about self-image as a result. Parents are still very important in their lives,
but children aged 12-15 become more socially independent from them. They
develop and assert their personality by making choices about their interests,
friendship groups, and school 71. Towards the older end of this age bracket children
may develop an interest in romantic relationships 72.
We have characterised 12-15-year-olds as connecting and creating in media. Most
children at this stage communicate with others, including via video games or
creating and sharing content online. Their use of screen-based media may be
heavier than their parents would like.
The social independence of children in this age group was reflected in their use of apps or sites for
sending messages or making calls (98%) and social media (93%), activities that were undertaken by
far fewer 8-11-year-olds (82% and 63% respectively).
WhatsApp was the most-used app among 12-15-year-olds for sending messages or making calls
(80%), closely followed by Snapchat (62%). The use of Instagram (46%) and TikTok (44%) for this
purpose are also by now very well established.
As well as communicating with others via message or video/voice calls, it was more popular for
children to create and upload content at this age. Almost half of 12-15-year-olds (47%) had posted
their own video content online and were most likely to have uploaded them to TikTok (34%) or
Snapchat (20%).
Three-quarters of 12-15-year-olds (76%) said they played video games online. Games that involve
playing against other people or teams were most popular at this age (49%) and ‘shooter’ games
were played by more children within this age bracket (38%) than by those aged 3-11. Similarly, more
71Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Important milestones for children aged 12-14:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence.html
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.html
26
children aged 12-15 said they played games with or against people they didn’t know offline (35%)
than younger children. And of the 79% of 12-15-year-olds who said they spoke to others while
gaming, 42% reported having spoken to people they only knew through the game.

As nearly all 12-15-year-olds (98%) owned a mobile phone, it is unsurprising that phones were their
most-used devices for going online (96%) and watching TV or films when not including a TV set
(63%). At this age, as many played games on a mobile phone (68%) as on a console (69%).

Although most parents of 12-15-year-olds (79%) said they supervised what their child did online, this
was much lower than for parents of 8-11-year-olds (97%). Perhaps in response to increased
demands for independence at this age, it was most common for parents to supervise their child’s
online behaviour by asking what they had been doing online (62%). The move away from direct
supervision at this age was also evidenced in parents’ approach to online safety. Parents of 12-15-
year-olds were most likely to talk to their child about this topic (45%) or simply trusted their child to
be sensible when online (40%).
As seen, children aged 12-15 were active online, and parents of this age group were less likely than
parents of 8-11-year-olds to agree that their child had a good balance between screen time and
doing other things (51% vs 68% respectively). The Insights Family 73 found that 12-15-year-olds spent
more time online or on social media (1hr 24 minutes) per day than they did being with friends 74 (1hr
12 minutes) – the first age group to show this bias towards being online. In parallel, our study found
that the proportion of parents of 16-17-year-olds who found it hard to control their child’s screen
time increased for this age group, at 44% compared to 36% of parents of 8-11-year-olds.
73 The Insights Family. Average time children aged 12-15 spent on a range of online and offline activities. Sample size:
2,710.
74 The answer code ‘being with friends’ did not explicitly exclude online interactions
27
Age 16-17: Branching Out

Between the ages of 16 and 17 children may spend increasingly more time with
friends and may also be in search of intimacy, whether through strong platonic or
romantic relationships. Children develop a stronger sense of who they are and the
ability to think critically about their own choices. Most have gone through puberty,
which may raise concerns for them around body image 75.
At this stage, 16-17-year-olds are branching out in media, using a wider and more
diverse diet of apps and sites. Platforms that are used by relatively few younger age
groups such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest feature more for 16-17-year-olds.
Their use of screen-based media is often heavier than their parents would like.
Like those aged 12-15, nearly all 16-17-year-olds watched videos online and used apps or sites for
messaging or calling and social media, and the pattern was similar regarding watching live streams
and playing games online. Where these two age groups differed was in their use of specific apps or
sites, and their engagement on social media platforms.
Unlike those aged 12-15, Instagram was used by more 16-17-year-olds (87%) than TikTok (80%).
Two-thirds of children aged 16-17 said they used Facebook (65%), three in ten (29%) Twitter, and a
quarter (24%) Pinterest, all of which were used by significantly fewer 12-15-year-olds.
As well as having a slightly different diet of apps or sites than 12-15-year-olds, those aged 16-17
were more likely to be ‘active’ users of social media than younger children; almost two in five 16-17-
year-olds (37%) said that they shared, commented or posted things on social media, compared to
31% of 12-15-year-olds.
About seven in ten 16-17-year-olds said they played video games online. The majority of online
gamers this age said they chatted to others while gaming (79%) and nearly half (47%) indicated they
75Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Important milestones for children aged 15-17:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.html
28
talked to people that they only knew through the game. Games that involve playing against people
or teams were the most-played type of game among 16-17-year-olds (45%).

Like those aged 12-15, mobile phones were the most-used devices by 16-17-year-olds for going
online (97%) and watching TV programmes or films when excluding a TV set (67%). Consoles were
the most-used device for gaming among this age group (67%), and although used by the majority,
fewer 16-17-year-olds than 12-15s (57% vs 68%) used mobile phones for this activity.

More than two-fifths of parents of 16-17-year-olds (44%) said they did not supervise their child’s
online access and use, significantly more than for all other age groups. Parents of this age group
were also the most likely to rely on ‘trusting their child to be sensible’ for their online safety (53%).
Almost six in ten parents of 16-17-year-olds (56%) agreed that their child had a good balance
between screen time and doing other things. Compared to other age groups, The Insights Family 76
found that children aged 16-17 spent the most time going online or on social media per day (1hr 38
minutes) compared to children aged 3-15. However, they also spent the most time being with
friends 77 (1hr 20 minutes).
76 The Insights Family. Average time children aged 16-17 spent on a range of online and offline activities. Sample size:
1,356.
77 The answer code ‘being with friends’ did not explicitly exclude online interactions.
29
4. Girls and boys

Introduction
In this section we turn to how media use varies between girls and boys 78. At a high level, there were
as many similarities as differences in girls’ and boys’ media behaviour; for example, girls and boys
had equally high use of VSPs for viewing content, and both were most likely to use YouTube to do
this. However, there are some interesting differences relating to the overall habits of girls and boys
in relation to social media, posting videos on VSPs, viewing live streaming content, and playing video
games.
Platform use
Girls aged 3-17 were slightly more likely than boys to use apps or sites for social media (65% vs 62%),
but there were marked differences between girls and boys in the individual apps used, and still
greater differences in what they were using social media for.
In terms of individual apps or sites used for social media functions, use of TikTok among 3-17-year-
olds was higher for girls (45% compared to 41% of boys), as was Snapchat (41% vs 34%), Instagram
(36% vs 32%), Pinterest (13% vs 6%), and BeReal 79 (5% vs 2%). Boys’ usage was higher for Reddit (6%
vs 4%).
More girls than boys aged 8-17 who used social media said that they shared, commented, or posted
things (34% vs 27%). Conversely, from age 12, girls were less likely than boys of the same age to only
read or watch things on social media: 16% of girls aged 12-15 (vs 27% of boys aged 12-15) and 14%
of girls aged 16-17 (vs 21% of boys aged 16-17).
As shown in the graphic below, 61% of boys aged 12-17 had undertaken one of the activities listed,
compared to 81% of girls in this age group. In particular, girls were more likely than boys to send
supportive messages to friends (64% vs 38%) and to follow or interact with political parties or
campaign groups (15% vs 10%).
78 Our media literacy surveys have quotas set for children’s gender within age (plus other demographics), asking parents to
select from ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ for each child to be interviewed. In line with this, we have used the grouping of ‘girls’ and
‘boys’ for this section.
79 ‘BeReal’ was included in our tracking study in 2022 and use increased from 1% of 3-17s in wave 1 (summer) to 6% in
wave 2 (autumn).
30
Posting videos on VSPs
In the same way that their engagement on social media was higher, girls were more likely to post
their own videos on VSPs. A third of girls aged 3-17 (34%) had posted self-made videos online
compared to 29% of boys of this age. Unlike watching content, posting videos on VSPs is not
something children of all ages commonly do, so this skews towards 12-17-year-olds; among girls of
this age, five in ten (52%) had posted videos, compared to four in ten (41%) boys.
TikTok was the most-used platform for posting videos, used by 20% of children aged 3-17 for this
purpose (up from 18% in 2021). More girls than boys used TikTok for posting videos (24% vs 16%);
and girls were also more likely than boys to post videos on Snapchat (14% vs 9%) and on Instagram
(12% vs 8%). Conversely, boys were more likely than girls to post videos on YouTube (14% vs 9%).
Viewing live-streamed content
About three in five (58%) children aged 3-17 had viewed live-streamed videos, and boys aged 5-11
were more likely than girls of the same age to do this (52% vs 44%). YouTube Live was most popular
overall but was used by a higher proportion of boys (43%) than girls (35%), as was Twitch (12% vs
6%). Girls were more likely to use TikTok LIVE (30% vs 26%) and Instagram Live (20% vs 17%).
Similar skews for boys and girls for these apps and sites are also evident in the VSPs used to
consume video content. Notably, Twitch was used by nearly one in five boys aged 12-17 to view
video content, twice the level for girls. Pinterest was twice as likely to be used for viewing videos by
girls than by boys (6% vs 3%).
31
Gaming activities
About nine in ten children aged 3-17 (89%) played video games, and girls and boys were equally
likely to do this until the age of 16-17, when boys were more likely to game than girls (94% vs 80%).
Almost three-quarters of boys aged 3-17 (73%) used a games console or handheld games player for
gaming, compared to less than half of girls (45%), whereas tablets were more likely to be used by
girls (47% vs 38%).
Creative and building games were the most popular type of game overall, enjoyed by almost half of
both boys and girls aged 3-17 who game. Other types of game were less universally popular; for
example, use of sports games such as FIFA or NBA was higher for boys (37% vs 11% girls), and puzzle
or quiz games were higher for girls (40% vs 23% boys).
Our data also pointed to differences between girls and boys regarding the rules their parents had
put in place relating to their gaming. Parents of boys aged 3-17 who played video games were more
likely to have at least one gaming rule than parents of girls who played (92% vs 84%).
These rules for boys were more likely to be about time spent gaming (60% vs 51% for girls); when
they game (54% vs 43%); purchasing or downloading of games (70 vs, 55%); appropriate age ratings
(55% vs 47%); and with or against whom they can play games (51% vs 40%).
32
In-game purchasing
The Insights Family 80 data suggests that children aged 8-17 who spent money on video games
(including in-app purchases) had spent an average of £38 in the past month.
When asked about whether they had any concerns relating to their child’s gaming, responses were
broadly similar among parents of boys and girls in most areas, except for in-game purchases. While
over half of all parents (55%) of children who game said they worried that pressure is placed on their
child to make in-game purchases, more parents of girls aged 3-17 claimed not to be concerned about
this than parents of boys aged 3-17 (32% vs 24%).
Boys in our Children’s Media Lives study seemed to be more inclined to play games that required a
high level of commitment to progress in the game, such as FIFA and NBA 2K. Girls were playing a
variety of games such as Bit Life and Taco World which did not require as much practice or
investment to play but involved creative or life simulation elements. We can see from our tracking
data that these trends correlate with the types of games that boys and girls reported playing. The
examples of Alfie and Ben shows how involving games can be, in terms of challenge and
competition:
Alfie (8) wanted to improve his game play in Fortnite. Real players online presented more of a
challenge than the in-game Zombie modes, so Alfie preferred to play against those.
Ben's (15) gaming had reduced since the previous wave, but he still gamed for about two hours per
night. He preferred playing other online players in the online game modes of FIFA and NBA 2K
because they felt more competitive. New NBA 2K players were released each evening, and the better,
more desirable players cost more. Playing several hours every day allowed Ben to earn more credits,
which he could use to buy new players and improve his team.
The example of Amber illustrates a different approach that was more common among girls within
our qualitative sample. Less time, money and effort were invested within individual games, with new
games picked up at a greater frequency:
Amber (10) also had over 25 free solo-player games saved to a folder on her phone. She would
download an app whenever it was advertised to her on the app store or on TikTok to see if she liked
it. She had so many that she couldn’t remember the premise of a lot of the games. She would often
only play them once and switch to another game when she got bored.
80The Insights Family, average spend of children aged 3-17 who spent money in the past month (at time of survey
completion). Sample size: 10, 173. Based on responses collected between 1st January 2022 to 31st December 2022
33
5. Being online: experiences and attitudes

Having explored how media fits within the lives of children, we now consider their experiences in
this landscape. This section provides an overview of the positive and negative aspects of the online
space, from the viewpoints of children and parents, and explores the types of activities parents
undertake in managing their child’s media use. In the latest wave of Children’s Media Lives research
we observed, and discuss below, some shifts in behaviour. For example, some of our participants
were less likely to post personal content than in previous years, which raises a number of questions
about the type of media literacy being displayed.
Benefits of being online

Children aged 12-17 81 often recognised there were benefits to going online, and parents of children
that age could also see these positives. Similar proportions of 12-17-year-olds and parents of
children of this age agreed that being able to go online helps with schoolwork/homework (81%
children, 84% parents), building or maintaining friendships (68%, 65%), and developing creative skills
(45%, 50%).
Some benefits of being online were more apparent to children in 2022; specifically, helping with
their school/ homework (81%, up from 77% in 2021), building and maintaining friendships (68%, up
from 64%), and finding out about the news (48%, up from 44%).
Specifically, in relation to social media, a majority of children aged 8 to 17 using these apps or sites
were able to identify the benefits of these apps or sites, all or most of the time. About seven in ten
said they felt safe using these types of apps (73%). There was a positive year-on-year shift in the
proportion of children aged 8-17 claiming that that these platforms made them feel happy (67%, up
from 59% in 2021), while 66% thought that it helped them stay close to their friends (up from 61% in
2021) 82.
We only asked children aged 12 or above and their parents to answer questions related to the benefits of going online.
81
We did not ask parents of younger children (3-7) to answer questions about how their child felt about social media or
82
messaging apps as it likely to be difficult for them to express how such apps may or may not benefit them.
34
Downsides of being online

While going online can be of great benefit to children and enrich their lives, there can also be risks to
children’s wellbeing and safety.
Children aged 8-17 identified the negative aspects of using social media or messaging apps or sites:
two fifths of 8-17-year-olds thought that people were mean or unkind to each other on social media
and messaging apps or sites all or most of the time, while 26% believed there was pressure to be
popular on these types of platforms all or most of the time.
In Children’s Media Lives, concern about how they came across had stopped some children from
posting publicly.
“I used to post. When I first downloaded it, it was mortifying. About two years [ago], I used to post
photo dumps and stuff, just cringy things that I don’t like anymore, so I hid them. I’ve deleted those
ones, but I have other ones that I post just straight into My Eyes Only 83.”
Taylor, 14
When children did post, they often copied trends that had created popularity for others, sometimes
without even understanding what the trends meant.
“I just posted this. I don’t really know what it means. It just says ‘who ate all the Nutella?’ and then
‘Jamal’ so I did that.”
Amber, 10
Less than three in ten parents of 3-17-year-olds (28%) believed the benefits of their child using social
media, messaging and video-sharing apps or sites outweighed the risks, rising to four in ten parents
of 16-17-year-olds (41%), and twice the proportion of parents of 3-4-year-olds.
About one in three parents (28%) were unable to express a positive or negative opinion about the
risks and benefits of these types of internet use, and it may be that they find it difficult to evaluate
it, or that they perceive the impact to be neutral.
83My Eyes Only is a is a functionality of Snapchat, which allows users to save ‘Snaps’ and ‘Stories’ to ‘Memories’ and
protect images with a passcode so that only they can only view them after this is entered. Source: How does My Eyes Only
work? – Snapchat Support
35
Sharing personal information online

An equal proportion of parents with children aged 3-17 expressed concern about companies
collecting information about what their child does online (65%) and their child giving out personal
details to inappropriate people online (65%). Proportions feeling these concerns did not differ
greatly among parents of different age groups. Parents of 3-11-year-olds were as likely as those of
12-15s to be concerned about companies collecting information (65% vs 63%); but were slightly
more likely to be concerned about their child giving out personal information (66% vs 61% of parents
of 12-15s).
Children themselves, on the other hand, expressed varying degrees of caution about sharing
personal information. A fifth of 12-15-year-olds claimed that they never felt comfortable sharing
personal information online, and more than half (56%) claimed they sometimes avoided using apps
or sites that asked them to share personal information. Conversely, about one in ten (13%) claimed
they always shared personal information online, even if they were not comfortable about it.
Almost half of 12-17-year-olds (46%) were aware of the ability to use a privacy mode on a web
browser and 22% said they had done so. This could be a method used by some to protect their
personal data but is likely to leave parents less able to check what they are doing online.
Exposure to age-inappropriate content

More than seven in ten parents of children aged 3-17 were concerned about their child seeing age-
inappropriate content (75%) and or their child seeing ‘adult’ or sexual content online (73%). In
contrast, fewer parents (49%) expressed concerns about the content their children were seeing on
the TV programmes they watched, in terms of featuring violence, bad language, disturbing content,
sexual content or any other form of age-inappropriate content.
Experiencing harm or detriment

Parents of 3-17-year-olds were concerned about how some content could harm or negatively
influence their children. Seven in ten parents were concerned about their child seeing content online
that would encourage them to harm themselves. Six in ten were worried about the possibility of
their child being influenced by extreme views online, whether political, social or religious.
Alongside worries around harmful content, parents were concerned about their child being bullied
in some way online or via communications technologies. For example, 70% of parents of 3-17-year-
olds said they were worried about their child being bullied online, and about 54% of parents whose
child played games online expressed concern about their child being bullied by other players while
gaming. More than half of parents overall (52%) were worried about their child being bullied via
calls, texts, emails, or messages on their mobile phone and parents of children aged 8-11 (55%) and
12-15 (57%) were more likely to have this concern than parents of 16-17-year-olds (40%).
Reputational damage
Parents also showed concern about how their child’s behaviour online might affect how they are
perceived by others. Over half of parents (56%) said they were concerned that their child’s
reputation might be damaged, either now or in the future, by their online behaviour.
36
Summary of parental concerns

The graphic below summarises these concerns among parents of 3-17-year-olds surrounding their
child’s online behaviours and use.
When considering how age of child may impact parental concern, our data indicates that parents of
16-17-year-olds were less likely than average to say they were concerned about each of the nine
aspects of their child’s online use.
Negative experiences online

Experiencing something nasty or hurtful
Almost three in ten children aged 8-17 (29%) had experienced a person being nasty or hurtful to
them via a communication technology 84, while two in ten had had a nasty or hurtful face-to-face
experience. Those aged 12-15 (35%) and 16-17 (37%) were more likely to have experienced this than
children aged 8-11 (20%). This year there was a decrease in 8-11-year-olds saying they had
experienced someone being nasty or hurtful via comms technology, from 27% in 2021 to 20%.
84As listed in the graphic, communications technology includes text messaging or app, social media site or app, in online
games, through phone calls, through other sites or apps or through video calls.
37
Encountering unpleasant content in media

There was a decrease in the proportion of 8-17-year-olds who said they had seen something they
found worrying or nasty online in the last 12 months, from 36% in 2021 to 29% in 2022, across all
age groups.
As outlined in ‘the children’s media use landscape’, a significant proportion of children watch TV in
some way, and our Cross-Platform Media Tracker 85 collects information from 12-15-year-olds
regarding any negative experiences they have had from content they have seen on TV. We have
included this for completeness and provided the data for the same age group in our tracking data
related to negative online experiences, although comparisons need to be made with caution as the
data come from different studies with different research criteria, measures and outcomes.
Among 12-15-year-olds who had watched broadcast TV in the past 12 months, about a quarter
(23%) had, in that timeframe, personally seen something on TV which offended them, and about a
fifth (18%) had personally seen anything on TV they thought was harmful or damaging 86. Among 12-
15-year-olds in our media literacy tracking studies, three in ten (31%) had seen something they
found worrying or nasty online.
Actions taken by children to protect themselves

Most children aged 8-11 who had encountered something worrying or nasty online (84%) told
someone about it. However, children aged 12-15 (82%) and 16-17 (79%) were less likely to have told
someone in this situation than those aged 8-11 (91%).
As well as talking about negative experiences, children aged 12-17 may also use technical controls or
tools to manage their experiences with others online. Two-thirds of 12-17-year-olds indicated that
they had blocked someone on social media that they did not wish to hear from, and a third had
changed their settings so that fewer people could view their profile.
However, only one in seven children aged 12-17 (14%) had used a reporting or flagging function to
report inappropriate content, which may be because they are not aware of this feature. Awareness
levels for this type of function (35%) were lower than for other types of protective measure, such as
blocking people on social media (84%).
Use of parental controls

Seven in ten parents of children aged 3-17 said they had some form of technical control in place to
manage their child’s access to content online. Overall, the most-used technical controls were those
that are built into the device by the manufacturer (34%). Parents were far less likely to use controls
that required them to download specific software or apps. For example, only 13% of parents said
they used security apps that can be installed on their child’s device to monitor the apps they use and
for how long.
85 Ofcom’s Cross-Platform Media Tracker, 2022

86 Ofcom’s Cross-Platform Media Tracker, 2022
38
Talking about online safety

About nine in ten 8-17-year-olds (91%) had talked to someone about how to use the internet safely,
and of those who had, 88% had done so with any family member, usually a parent (86%). Similarly,
80% had received information about how to use the internet safely by someone outside the family,
most commonly a teacher (76%). The graphic below shows these measures by age group.
Almost nine in ten (86%) parents said they had previously spoken to their child about how to stay
safe online. This may have included talking about the potential dangers of content on sites or apps
that might be unsuitable for their age, about sharing too much information online, and about
contact with people they do not know. About half (47%) of parents who had talked to their child
about how to stay safe online claimed to do so at least every few weeks.
39
6. Critical understanding among children

Critical understanding is a core component of media literacy; it enables children to understand,
question, and manage their media environment. This is important if they are to get the benefits that
the internet and other media can offer while avoiding potential risks or harms.
The focus on critical understanding in our surveys has been expanded and enhanced over the past
two years. In this section we examine critical understanding in relation to how children view
information from different sources, with a focus on news and social media. We gather the
quantitative data via a combination of direct questions and visual scenario assessments; some of
these are directed only at children over the age of 8 or of 12, and we indicate where the age group
changes 87. We also presented these visual scenarios to our Children’s Media Lives participants who
showed a reliance on visual clues when assessing trustworthiness. We discuss their use of social
media as a source of news, and the potential impact of this behaviour.
Children’s views of accurate or truthful sources of information

A third of children aged 8-17 (32%) said that they believed all or most of what they saw on social
media to be accurate and true, much lower than the proportions who believed this of news apps and
sites (66%), or those used for school or homework (77%, up from 74% in 2021 and the only measure
to change year-on-year).
87 Data is taken from our ‘Children’s Online Knowledge and Understanding’ study which is among children aged 8 to 17.
Data for children aged 3-7 is collected from parents or guardians via the survey and for this reason it is not appropriate to
ask questions regarding understanding among children this age.
40
Our News Consumption Survey found that children appraised different sources of news in different
ways: 12-15-year-olds were more likely to feel that news they had heard from family was always or
mostly true and accurate (79%), followed by 72% feeling this way about news on the radio, and 65%
in relation to TV news. When considering the reliability of online news, over half of children aged 12-
15 (54%) believed that that news stories on websites or apps were always or mostly true or
accurate. The sources least likely to be thought of as accurate and truthful were friends (37%) and
social media (30%).
Despite the scepticism shown by most children about the information they see on social media, our
News Consumption Survey also found that almost three in ten children aged 12-15 used TikTok 88 as a
news source in 2022 (28%), up from 22% in 2021.
Our Children’s Media Lives study showed how children use social media platforms for getting
information. This information was wide-ranging; three children reported receiving news of Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s death on TikTok or YouTube Shorts:
“I was on TikTok and I was refreshing it over and over again and the next minute ‘RIP Queen
Elizabeth’ and I was like ‘Oh my God, she has died’ so I rang up my mum.”
Bryony, 14
Others more actively sought out opinions on current affairs from social media. For example, Alice
followed Instagram pages that she felt gave a more nuanced viewpoint on Israel than the
mainstream news outlets reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“I follow a couple of pages that stand with Israel. I think I found it when there were terror attacks
going on. So, they post a lot of updates about Israel, because obviously the news doesn't really
portray Israel. You don't really even hear about it on the news. So that's kind of how I find out about
things in Israel.”
Alice, 17
88 According to our News Consumption Survey, TikTok was used by significantly more 12-15-year-olds for following news
stories in 2022 compared to 2021. Although Instagram was used more overall for this purpose (29%), there was not a
significant increase in use of this apps since 2021 (28%).
41
How children identify what is genuine or fake on social media

Almost all children aged 12-17 use social media, and nine in ten have least one profile. To
understand how children assess the types of information that they may see on social media, we
presented them with images of a post from the NHS Instagram page (relating to Covid-19
vaccinations), and a social media profile that had been created specifically for the study.
Assessing a social media post

Respondents aged 12-17 were shown this NHS Instagram
post 89 and asked whether they thought it was genuine or
not. The majority (80%) recognised that it was a genuine
post, whereas 11% claimed it was fake and 9% were
unsure.
As a follow-up diagnostic question, they were then were

asked to identify (by clicking/touching directly on the
image) the different parts of the post which indicated to
them that it was either genuine or not. The presence of
the NHS logo was the most common indicator selected by
those who felt that the post was genuine (61%), followed
by the HM Government logo (39%), the ‘verified’ tick
(28%), and the NHS username (28%). These responses
suggest that children place weight on visual cues such as
logos – which can easily be copied or duplicated – rather
than information such as web links.
Children who felt that the post was not genuine selected
the text on the post to make this decision, with half
selecting ‘Get a booster dose’ (48%) and almost a quarter
selecting ‘Join us, let’s get protected’ (22%).
Reviewing these scenarios in Children’s Media Lives, children identified the visual cues that implied
trustworthiness. Bryony, age 14, pointed out the NHS logo:
“They are reliable social media posts because they’re from the NHS who are a well-
known medical company throughout the whole of the UK.”
Bryony, 14
Peter explained why the ‘verified’ tick was significant to him.
“On Instagram you’re going to have to be fairly reputable to have a verified account.”
Peter, 17
89NHS Instagram account, 16th January 2022 (NHS on Instagram - Get a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and protect
yourself, your family and the NHS.) Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Please note, sources were shown at the end of the survey during fieldwork.
42
Assessing a social media profile

We also presented 12-17-year-olds with a fake social media profile and asked them to judge
whether they thought the profile was real or not. Two-thirds recognised that the profile was not
genuine. However, the remainder were split between thinking that the profile was genuine (18%)
and being unable to give an answer either way (15%). Girls were more likely than boys to recognise
the profile as fake (71% compared to 61%).
Of the 12-17-year-olds who incorrectly identified the social media profile as real, three in ten (31%)
highlighted the main profile picture as an indicator of authenticity, a quarter (24%) selected the
number of people the account was following, and 22% clicked on the picture of a person posted on
the account (who resembles the person in the profile picture).
Those who correctly identified the social media profile as fake were less influenced by aesthetic
features and were more likely to have been made suspicious by areas of the profile that included
references to ‘making money online’ (78%), following a high number of people (34%), and a link that
was not easily recognisable (47%).
Seven in ten children aged 12-17 (70%) said that they were confident in their ability to judge what is
real and what is fake online, rising to eight in ten (82%) 16-17-year-olds. The following graphic shows
the relationship between the stated level of confidence of the child and their identification of the
profile in our scenario as fake.
90
Twenty-three per cent of children aged 12-17 who had claimed to be confident in their ability to
differentiate between real and fake online, failed to identify the profile as fake. Although this
proportion was down from 27% in 2021, it still means that nearly a quarter were overconfident in
their ability, and in a position of potential vulnerability.
90 This profile is a fictional profile. Image source: Pexels. Sources were shown at the end of the survey during fieldwork
43
Understanding the internet as a commercial landscape

Online critical understanding can also help children to navigate some of the commercial incentives at
play in the online landscape. We explored this in terms of advertising.
Recognising advertising within search results

More than nine in ten (93%) children aged 8-17 in our study claimed to use search engines 91. To
measure their understanding of advertising in search engine results, we presented them with a
screenshot of a Google search for trainers (see image below) and asked why the top four results
appeared there (these were marked with the word ‘ad’) 92.
91 To clarify what we meant by search engine for respondents, we asked children aged 8-17 whether they used sites or
apps like Google, Bing or Yahoo to look for things online.
92 Source: Google search for children’s trainers. Images of trainers (reading top to bottom): Nike Official; Decathlon UK; M
and M Direct, New Balance; JD Sports, Adidas; John Lewis & Partners; Sports Direct, Nike; Nike; H&M. Sources were shown
at the end of the survey during fieldwork.
44
More than half of the 8-17-year-

olds who use search engines (54%)
correctly recognised these as
sponsored results. However, a
proportion also selected other,
incorrect, reasons such as ‘they
are the most popular results’
(38%) and/ or ‘these are the best
results’ (24%).
Older children, especially those aged 16-17 (50%), were more able than those aged 8-11 (33%) to
identify advertising correctly in this scenario.
When comparing confidence in spotting advertising with the ability to do so, we found that two in
five children aged 12-17 (41%) claimed to be confident in their ability to detect advertising and
correctly identified only the top search results as ‘paid for’, an increase from 36% in 2021.
Detecting influencer paid partnerships

To understand whether children aged 12-17 can recognise
influencer advertising on social media, we presented
children with a real social media post shared by actress
Millie Bobby Brown on her Instagram feed and asked them
why they thought she might share a post about the product
shown (a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone). 93
Three-quarters of 12-17-year-olds correctly recognised that

Millie Bobby Brown had been paid to promote the product,
as indicated by the ‘Paid partnership with Samsung mobile’
text visible in the post.
However, three in ten 12-17 -year-olds thought that the
actress had posted this to her feed because she thought the
product was cool or good to use, and a similar proportion
thought she wanted to simply share this information with
her followers (27%). However, considering that influencers
may have more than one reason to promote one product
rather than another (e.g. they may actually like or use the
93Source: Millie Bobby Brown Instagram account, 12th August 2022, (Millie Bobby Brown on Instagram: “Hanging with
#TeamGalaxy 💜💜”). Sources were shown at the end of the survey during fieldwork.
45
product they are being paid to promote), any mention of being paid is considered a correct
response.
Comparing our scenarios

The graphic below summarises the confidence and ability findings we have described for the three
scenarios where we have applied this analysis. More children aged 12-17 (69%) were both confident
in their ability and able to identify advertising in the example influencer post, higher than the
proportions being both confident and able in recognising a fake social media profile (48%) or search
results (41%).
94
94Influencer endorsement image: Source: Millie Bobby Brown Instagram account, 12th August 2022 (Instagram handle
– milliebobbybrown), (Millie Bobby Brown on Instagram: “Hanging with #TeamGalaxy 💜💜”). Sources were shown at the
end of the survey during fieldwork.
Fake social media profile image. Image source: Pexels.
46
7. Media use by nation: a snapshot

In this section we provide an overview of media use among 3-17-year-olds across the four nations –
England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The key points can be found in the graphic below.
47
Resources to further explore the data

This report and accompanying Annex documents provide an overview of the key data that we collect
via the children’s media literacy tracking studies. All the data collected is available here in several
different formats:
Via an interactive tool, which provides data from all the children’s Link to Interactive data
studies, with questions grouped into similar themes. Data can be viewed
at a total level, or can be filtered for individual age bands, by gender,
nation and socio-economic group
In the form of associated documents, published on Ofcom’s Statistical Link to children's media
Release Calendar 2023, including: literacy survey
documents
• Fixed data tabulations which provide data for each question
split by demographic groups, including by age band, gender and
nation
• Open data in .csv and SPSS format that can be used for bespoke
analysis
• Survey questionnaires for each of the four children’s and
parent’s surveys
• Technical report covering all children’s media literacy surveys
Links to our media literacy research Link to Ofcom’s media
literacy research pages
48

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3-17-year-olds’ media use and attitudes: summary of key findings

Children’s viewing habits

Audience Research Board

Overall trends for apps and sites

Playing video games

Interacting with others

5 Ofcom’s Children’s Media Lives: Year 9 report

Attitudes and experiences in the online space

Guide to report contents

Section 2. The children’s media landscape

Section 3: From toddler to teen: plotting media habits by age

Section 4: Girls and boys

Section 5: Being online: experiences and attitudes

Section 6: Online critical understanding among children

Section 7: Media use by nation: a snapshot

Data used in this report

9 Annex 1: sources and methodologies

age group: Statistical release calendar 2023 - Ofcom

Supplemental contextual data

• Ofcom data sources:

Technology Tracker 20 Household internet access, TV and radio in household

News Consumption Survey 21 Children’s usage of news sources

Cross-Platform Media Tracker 22 Children’s experiences of TV

BBC Children’s Performance Tracker 23 Uses of BBC educational resources

can be found in Annex 1.

2. The children’s media use landscape

Media and communications devices used and/or accessed by

BVoD % weekly reach 38% 40% 35%

Average weekly minutes 58 9 7

SVoD/AVoD % weekly reach 71% 73% 66%

Average weekly minutes 265 40 33

Types of programming and content

Video-sharing platform and live-streamed content

Content viewing themes from Children’s Media Lives

36BARB | Broadcasters Audience Research Board

Media for leisure activities

Video gaming in the context of play

aged 8-17: sample size 3,389

Video gaming in focus

Listening to music and reading

pleasure: all aged 5-18 (1125)

The impact of device poverty

Media for interacting

Apps and sites used by children

3. From toddler to teen: plotting media habits

Overview of age and stage of media consumption

Age 3-4: Supervised Explorers

Online activities of 3-4-year-olds

Devices used by 3-4-year-olds

3-4s: parental oversight

Age 5-7: Increasingly Independent

Online activities of 5-7-year-olds

Devices used by 5-7-year-olds

5-7s: parental oversight

Age 8-11: Developing Skills

Online activities of 8-11-year-olds

Devices used by 8-11-year-olds

8-11s: parental oversight