Every second child watches TV every day or almost every day. Media use has also returned to normal in other ways after Corona. This was the result of a study by the ZHAW.
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the essentials in brief
- Games, sports and social contacts shaped children’s free time at the beginning of 2022.
- Gaming follows as the first digital activity in fourth place.
- This was the result of a study by the ZHAW.
According to a study, the media usage behavior of six to thirteen year olds is back to a similar level as before the Covid 19 pandemic. Games, sports and social contacts shaped the leisure time of primary school children in Switzerland at the beginning of 2022. Only then did digital work follow with gaming, as the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) announced on Wednesday.
According to ZHAW media psychologist Lilian Suter, this reflects the need for social integration. This after certain leisure activities were no longer possible during the pandemic. In the course of primary school, the use of media takes on a greater place in children’s everyday lives.
Half of them watch TV almost every day
Almost half of all children watched television every or almost every day. Films and series were increasingly watched via streaming services such as Netflix. Online videos were also popular, especially on YouTube. The most popular films and series included classics such as the Harry Potter films, the Japanese anime series Naruto and the South Korean drama series Squid Game.
However, the most popular media activity across all primary school levels was gaming. The three top favorites here were Minecraft, Roblox and the classic Mario Kart, which has been continuously developed since 1992.
The use of mobile phones increases with age, it said. From the age of ten, more than half of the children surveyed had their own mobile phone. TikTok was the most used social network, followed by Snapchat and Instagram.
15 percent offended online
In the current survey, children in grades 4 to 6 were also asked in detail about negative experiences on the Internet for the first time. One in four children had already witnessed another child being insulted online, and 15 percent were affected themselves. About every tenth child had experienced that pictures or videos were sent unintentionally. Another six percent were harassed online in some form, as the ZHAW wrote.
Around 1000 six to thirteen year olds and more than 500 parents were interviewed by the researchers between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 in Switzerland for the fourth edition of the study in the three major language regions.
