Study: Children's Use of Electronics

Who doesn’t know how little children can seem to never settle down? They scream, cry, and make a mess of everything. But it seems there is something that can, indeed, put an end to that spectacle: electronic devices, whether a smartphone, tablet, or video game. With increasing availability and more affordable prices, Trocando Fraldas wondered how children are relating to their electronics and what parents think about it. Or is it that the parents or even grandparents themselves are responsible for the situation?

To investigate these questions, Trocando Fraldas conducted a survey with nearly 3,000 mothers and fathers of young children from their portal across Brazil between March 10 and 14, 2018 using a questionnaire. The participants answered freely and spontaneously.

Questions

The following questions were asked:

Does your child have any electronic device?
At what age did your child have access to their first electronic device?
How much time does your child spend with electronic devices daily?
Does your child miss out on a social life to play with a device?
Why did the child have access to the electronic device(s)?
Do you encourage your child to play outdoors?
Do you need to complain for them to stop using electronic equipment?
Do you consider electronic devices a problem for children?

Results

Ownership and Access to Electronics

54% of children over 2 years old already have some electronic device
1 in 7 children under 2 years old and over 6 months already have their own device
The cell phone is the most common device among young children, with a third of children over 2 years old already owning one
The second most popular option is tablets, and 1 in 4 children aged 2 or older already call one their own
Other devices such as video games and computers only become important at older ages
On average, children gain access to a device at 4 years and 3 months old
1 in every 25 even plays with electronics as a baby under 12 months

Usage Time

66% of young children spend more than 1 hour per day with electronic devices
On average, children spend 2 hours and 2 minutes of their day with their little friends
1 in 20 spends more than 6 hours with electronics
Parents consider that 1 in 4 children miss out on a social life due to devices
The 25% rate of children who miss out on a social life does not increase with age, but also holds for those under 3 years old

Parental Encouragement and Complaints

The vast majority of electronics reach children because they ask and parents give in (30%), or because parents provide it at that moment (31%)
It is much rarer for a child to receive one as a gift from grandparents (15%) or from others (8%)
7 in 8 mothers and fathers say they encourage their children to play outdoors
This proportion of encouragers rises to 92% for children over 2 years old
More than half of Brazilian parents have to complain to their children so they don't use electronic devices too much
Among children over 2 years old, 3 in 5 mothers and fathers complain about excessive use
61% of respondents consider electronics to be a problem for children in general
This overall assessment is independent of the children's age