The 21st century saw remarkable technological advancements and one of the best inventions of this era is the smartphone.

Smartphones today have become a necessity in all aspects of our lives. Now with the help of smartphones, one can check mails, play games, surf the internet, shop online and the list goes on and on.

Although smartphones are very useful and solve most of our daily problems, it yet forms an addiction, especially among children. Since children lack the sense of balance and responsibility they get addicted to smartphones very easily. 

The primary reason behind this is that via smartphones you can explore the world of the internet easily. 

Smartphones are a boon and bane for kids. The good thing about smartphones is that kids can continuously equip themselves with knowledge and education. 

There are various learning apps that are popping up every day. These apps truly help children to upskill themselves and learn modern concepts.

On the other hand, smartphones can also spoil a kid because a smartphone is a gateway to the internet which has no boundaries. Kids can access adult sites and can surf the wrong things which they should not. 

Hence, smartphones are good in a way but they can be wrongly used as well.  

In this post, we are going to give insights on how much time kids spend on mobile phones, their patterns of using phones, how it has affected their lifestyle, and many other things.  

From a recent study, it has been found out that 53% of kids of the age of 11 own and use smartphones. In the age bracket of 8, almost 19% of kids use and own smartphones whereas 52% of kids of 6-8 years are known to use smartphones on a daily basis.  

These kids mostly use smartphones for playing games, watching videos, texting among them, and so on. 

From the study, 62% of teens use phones during bedtime. Around 77% of teens text or tweet when they are about to sleep. 21% of teens like to keep their notifications on while sleeping. 

66% of the teens know that using phones during bedtime will negatively impact their sleep but still, they cannot resist. 

It has also been found out that 61% of teens think that your school work and studies are getting affected due to smartphone usage. Also, 67% of teachers feel that smartphones distract teens the most. 

Smartphones also affect relations as 77% of parents feel that teens get distracted by smartphones. It has also been observed that 44% of teens use phones at dinner tables and 30% of teens argue with the parents on a daily basis in relation to smartphone usage.

Since the price of smartphones has reduced a lot, that is why parents are giving their kids these devices every now and then. 

From a recent study, it was seen that the most used communications apps were Skype, WhatsApp, Hangouts, Facebook, Google Meet, Gmail, and Twitter.

Nowadays various kinds of devices and gadgets are available and as per recent findings, kids use a lot of devices on a daily basis. 

Following are the devices and their usage by the kids:

• Tablets: 53.9%
• Smartphone: 42.3% 
• Gaming Console: 42.2%
• Laptops: 31.45%
• Portable Game Player: 27.6%
• iPod Touch: 7.0%
• MP3 Players or iPod: 6.2%

And only 13.1% prefer using nothing from the above. 

From here we can understand that the majority of the kids use gadgets and devices for entertainment purposes. But Tablet tops the list because it assists in study purpose as well. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many changes in the pattern of online communication has been observed. In January 2020, 22.53% kids used to communicate online. 

In February 2020, online communication went down to 21.84%. Similarly, in March, April, and May 2020, online communication among kids ranged from 22.62%, 27.54%, and 25.69% respectively.

From the above, we can conclude that due to the lockdown in April, online communication was at its peak. 

Now we all are aware of the consequences of addiction of Internet, Smartphones and other gadgets among kids.

From recent findings, it was seen that children from the age of 10 to 12 years start using social media platforms because during this age they get access to devices like mobiles, PCs, and many more. 

It was found that almost 90% of teens are active social media users. Around 75% of teens belonging to the age bracket of 17 have at least one active social media profile. Also, almost  2/3 teens have smartphones with active internet connections. 

It was also found out that 50% of teens belonging to the age group of 13 to 17 years have used social media several times. Due to their addiction to social media, they visit it several times.  

It was also found out that male teens spend about 70 minutes per day on social media, whereas female teens spend almost 140 minutes per day on social media. Females showed almost double the time spent on social media. 

It is also seen that 85% of teens belonging to the age group of 13 to 17 years prefer watching YouTube. Also, it is observed that 81% of parents with children of 11 years or below allow them to watch YouTube.  

Apart from this, 85% of teens like watching YouTube and 32% of teens prefer to use YouTube more often than any other apps. 

Kids have a wide variety of options to consider when it comes to online content consumption.

In May 2020, the top six categories that grabbed the attention of children were:

• Software/Audio/Video: 42.47%
• Online Communication [Social Media]: 25.69%
• Online Computer Games: 13.26%
• E-Commerce Platforms: 10.54%
• News Media: 5.33%
• Adult Content: 0.49%

The numbers registered have witnessed a spike during the lockdown as children only relied on the internet as the sole source of entertainment.

It was also observed that children spent a lot of time-consuming online audio and video content. This automatically made the videos available on free platforms such as YouTube extremely popular among the children based demographic. 

Some of the most popular children-themed YouTube channels as of October 2020 have been ranked below as per subscriber count [in millions].

• ChuChu TV Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs - 41.4
• EL Reino infantil - 38
• LittleBabyBum - 33.4
• Masha and the Bear - 31.2
• Ryan’s World - 26.9
• Baby Doli- ToyPudding - 25.4
• CVS 3D Rhymes & Kids Songs - 25.3
• Galinha Pintadinha - 25.4
• Peppa Pig - Official Channel - 19.6 
• Mister Max - 19.5   

The concept of Cyberbullying is one of the most horrifying realities of the online world.

As per a recent study, it is estimated that more than 87% of young adults have experienced cyberbullying.

Instagram is the foremost platform where 42% of kids and teenagers are bullied which is followed by Facebook with 37%, Snapchat with 31%, WhatsApp with 12%, YouTube with 10%, and Twitter with 9%. 

The most popular social media platforms attract larger audiences. Likewise, the chances of cyberbullying also increase with a greater audience base.

• 70% of children encounter violent or sexual content while surfing the internet for homework purposes.
• More than 17% of children aged between 8-12 years receive uncomfortable photos and texts online. 
• More than 65% of children between the ages of 8-14 are exposed to cyberbullying. 
• 75% of the children unknowingly share personal information in exchange for availing specific products or services. 
• 36% of girls and 31% of boys have been found to be bullied online. 
• All these issues are related to cyberbullying and influenced 16% of school students to consider suicide.

Such are the negative impacts of the internet on the minds of children and young adults.

Some of the most common cyberbullying activities can be related to mean comments specified in the comments section. 22.5% of children have been affected by hateful comments. 

Mocking and ridiculing photos on group chats is also a popular practice of cyberbullying which is experienced by 35% of the children. Aggressive Messaging [64%], Physical threats while gaming [79%], and Racist/Sexist remarks [41%] also are popular practices.

The availability of adult content on the internet has been a hot topic of discussion for several years since the initiation of the World Wide Web. 

It is one of the most primary concerns of parents all around the world as explicit content may affect the overall growth and development of children in the long run.

The percentage usage details from June of 2019 to May of 2020 for 22 countries have been identified below [in no particular order]:

• Egypt:- 0.35%
• Kenya:- 0.09%
• Mexico:- 1.72%
• Russia:- 1.06%
• UAE:- 0.15%
• Kazakhstan:- 0.71%
• Brazil:- 0.53 %
• Belarus:- 0.81%
• Italy:- 0.88%
• Japan:- 0.36%
• India:- 0.59%
• Korea:- 0.36%
• Saudi Arabia:- 0.05%
• United States:- 0.44%
• Spain:- 0.28%
• South Africa:- 0.14%
• France:- 0.95%
• Canada:- 0.49%
• Great Britain:- 0.49%
• Australia:- 0.22%
• Germany:- 0.84%
• China:- 0.04%

According to the observations listed above, China and Kenya have the lowest online adult consumption for children below the age of 18 with 0.04% and 0.09% respectively. 

On the other hand, Mexico has the largest demographic when it comes to the aspect of online adult content consumption with 1.72%.

The rise in the popularity of online communities especially social media platforms has been unprecedented. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat attract billions of users every day. 

Likewise, children are also attracted to these popularized social media domains as it allows them to connect with their peers and gain information about the ongoing trends that are dominating the present society.

The percentage online communication media usage details from June of 2019 to May of 2020 for 21 countries have been identified below [in no particular order]:

• Egypt:- 34.7%
• Kenya:- 33.96%
• Mexico:- 33.78%
• Russia:- 30.78%
• UAE:- 30.35%
• Kazakhstan:- 27.84%
• Brazil:- 26.37%
• Belarus:- 25.29%
• Italy:- 25.21%
• Japan:- 23.5%
• India:- 23.23 %
• Korea:- 23.13% 
• Saudi Arabia:- 22.19%
• United States:- 21.8%
• Spain:- 19.59%
• South Africa:- 19%
• France:- 17.32%
• Canada:- 17.27%
• Great Britain:- 16%
• Australia:- 15.8%
• Germany:- 9.9%

Conclusion