Life Online
January 2014
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online
© 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Access
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Access
In 2013, MediaSmarts conducted a national
survey of 5,436 Canadian students, grades 4
through 11, in every province and territory, to
explore the role of networked technologies in
their lives.
Life Online is the first in a series of reports which
draw on the rich data that was collected.
What does online life look like for the average
young Canadian?
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Access
99% of Canadian
students access the
Internet outside of
school
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Access
Connecting to the Internet outside of school: Grade
100%
Shared Desktop
90%
80%
Own Desktop
70%
Portable Computer
60%
Library or Community
Centre
50%
MP3 Player
40%
Cell / smart phone
30%
Game console
20%
Only at School
10%
0%
4
5
6
7
8
Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
9
10
11

Online Access
Cell/Smart phone access: Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
Online Activities
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
What students are doing online: Creative activities
Do you do the following things
online?
At
least
once
a day
Post a story or artwork you created
yourself Grade
At
At
At
Less Never
least
least
least
than
once once once once
a
a
a year a year
week month
3%
6%
9%
9%
11%
62%
Post a video or audio file of you doing
something (for example, singing,
dancing, how-to video) , Grade
2%
3%
8%
9%
11%
67%
Post a video you made using music or
clips you found online (for example,
fan tribute, mash-up video) , Grade
2%
2%
5%
6%
8%
78%
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
What students are doing online: Participatory/Civic activities
Do you do the following things
online?
At
least
once
a day
At
least
once
a
week
Post comments on news sites
(grades 7-11 only)
3%
4%
6%
6%
9%
71%
Send people links to news stories or
information about current events
(grades 7-11 only) Grade
4%
10%
14%
11%
12%
50%
Join or support an activist group (for
example, Greenpeace, Students
Against Bullying, Free the Children)
3%
4%
7%
10%
11%
65%
Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
At
At
Less Never
least
least
than
once a once once a
month a year year

Online Activities
Finding information online: Gender
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
Finding information on sensitive issues online: Gender/Grades 7-11
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
Do you have an account on the following sites? Grade
100%
Facebook
Twi er
90%
Club Penguin (Gr. 4-6)
80%
Fantage (Gr. 4-6)
70%
MoshiMonsters (Gr. 4-6)
60%
PopTropica (Gr. 4-6)
50%
StarDoll (Gr. 4-6)
40%
Webkinz (Gr. 4-6)
Instagram (Gr. 7-11)
30%
Pinterest (Gr. 7-11)
20%
Tumblr (Gr. 7-11)
10%
0%
4
5
6
7
8
9
Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
10
11

Online Activities
Advice-seeking
Do you do the following things
online?
At least
once a
day
At
least
once a
week
Ask an expert for advice about a
personal problem Grade
2%
4%
7%
7%
10%
70%
Ask kids for advice about a
personal problem Grade
2%
6%
9%
7%
9%
67%
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
At
At
Less Never
least
least
than
once a once once
month a year a year

Online Activities
Most frequent online activities chosen by students:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
playing online games (59%)
downloading or streaming music, TV shows or movies
(51%)
reading or posting on someone else’s social network site
(52%)
posting on the student’s own social networking site (41%)
posting on the student’s own Twitter site (21%)
following friends and family on Twitter (21%)
following celebrities on Twitter (20%)
pranking or trolling someone (20%)
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
Top Ten Websites (All students)
Site
Content
Percent of respondents
YouTube.com
Video sharing
75%
Facebook.com
Social networking
57%
Google.com
Search engine
31%
Tumblr.com
Microblogging / Social
networking
Blogging / Social
networking
Instagram.com
Media sharing / Social
networking
Minecraft.com
Gaming
8%
Miniclip.com
Gaming
7%
Hotmail.com
Email
6%
Wikipedia.org
Reference
5%
Twitter.com
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
24%
12%
10%

Online Activities
Top Ten Websites: Grades 4-6
Site
Boys (Grades 4-6)
Percent
Girls (Grades 4-6)
Site
Percent
YouTube.com
70% YouTube.com
61%
Minecraft.net
31% Facebook.com
22%
Google.com
27% Google.com
20%
Facebook.com
22% Webkinz.com
11%
Miniclip.com
19% MoshiMonsters.com
10%
Y8.com
9% Friv.com
9%
Roblox.com
9% Twitter.com
9%
Andkon.com
8% Poptropica.com
9%
Friv.com
7% Y8.com
8%
Twitter.com
7% Family.ca
8%
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Online Activities
Top Ten Websites: Grades 7-11
Boys (Grades 7-11)
Site
Girls (Grades 7-11)
Percent
Site
Percent
YouTube.com
83% YouTube.com
77%
Facebook.com
72% Facebook.com
77%
Google.com
40% Twitter.com
43%
Twitter.com
24% Google.com
36%
Wikipedia.org
9% Tumblr.com
31%
Miniclip.com
7% Instagram.com
21%
Tumblr.com
7% Pinterest.com
10%
Reddit.com
6% Hotmail.com
8%
Minecraft.net
5% Netflix.com
5%
Hotmail.com
5% Wikipedia.org
5%
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Opinions about Online Safety
Opinions about Online Safety
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Opinions about Online Safety
Opinions about online safety: Gender
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Opinions about Online Safety
Opinions: Online safety: Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Opinions about Online Safety
Despite concerns
about safety, high
percentages of boys
(90%) and girls
(89%) agree with the
statement “I know
how to protect
myself”
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
Parental Involvement
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
Are there rules about any of these in your
house?
Percentage in 2005
Percentage in 2013
Meeting someone in person whom you got to 74%
know online (2005) / Getting together with
Girls:85%
someone you met online (2013)
Boys:65%
44%
Sites that you are not supposed to visit
(2005) / Sites you are not supposed to visit
(2013)
70%
48%
Girls:74%
Boys:67%
Girls:51%
Boys:44%
Girls:52%
Boys:35%
The percentage of household rules about online activities has
declined dramatically from 2005 to 2013, most notably in rules
relating to meeting online acquaintances in person and sites you
are not supposed to visit.
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
Household rules about online activity: Gender
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
Students with
household rules
about specific
activities that
adults consider
risky are less
likely to engage in
those activities
than students
without rules
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
Percentage of
students “usually”
online at home with
a parent or adult
increased from
2005-2013 and the
percentage that are
“never” online at
home with a parent
or adult decreased
from 2005-2013
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
…But one-quarter
of students in
Grades 4-6 are
never with an adult
or parent when they
go online at home
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Parental Involvement
Advice-seeking online
Do you do the following things
online?
Ask an expert for advice about a
personal problem Grade
Ask kids for advice about a
personal problem Grade
At least
once a
day
At
At least
At
Less Never
least once a least
than
once month once once
a
a year a year
week
2%
4%
7%
7%
10%
70%
2%
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
6%
9%
7%
9%
67%

Parental Involvement
I have learned about the following
From my parent(s)
From teachers
Grade
47%
How to search for information online
, Grade
45%
, Grade
45%
Grade
37%
How to tell if online information is true
Grade
, Grade
41%
15%
Grade
Grade
35%
24%
, Grade
39%
39%
How to deal with cyberbullying
, Grade
43%
, Grade
62%
How to be safe online
How to know what is legal and illegal to
do online
, Grade
64%
, Grade
53%
, Grade
58%
, Grade
42%
How to use privacy settings
How companies collect and use personal
information online
How to deal with hateful, racist or sexist
online information (grades 7-11 only)
Average
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
45%
41%

Unplugging
Unplugging
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Unplugging
Sleeping with cell phone: Grade
100%
Do you sleep with the cell
phone in case you get calls
or messages in the night?
Yes
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
4
5
6
7
8
9
Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
10
11

Unplugging
Do you ever worry that you spend too
much time online? (All students)
Percentage
Yes
35%
No
65%
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts

Unplugging
Feelings about having to unplug for a week: Grade
100%
90%
I would be upset/
unhappy
80%
I would be relieved/
happy
70%
I would not care one
way or the other
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
4
5
6
7
8
9
Grade
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
10
11

Unplugging
Choosing to go offline: All students
Do you ever choose to go offline so you will have more time to
do any of these things?
Percentage
Spend more time with friends or people in your family
77%
Avoid someone who is harassing you
17%
Enjoy some quiet time by yourself
Read a book
, Grade
, Grade
Go outside or play a game or sport
45%
44%
Grade
Other
I never choose to go offline to do any of these things
Young Canadians in a Wired World – Phase III: Life Online © 2014 MediaSmarts
71%
35%
4%