1. Children’s Mediabarometer 2010 The Use of Media among 0–8 year olds in Finland Annikka Suoninen Research Centre for Contemporary Culture University of Jyväskylä Finnish Society on Media Education
2. Children’s Media Barometer In Finland there was no GENERAL nationally representative information available on children’s media use Funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture Children’s Media Barometer will be done annually (or biannually). The special theme or focus group might change. First Media Barometer done in 2010. Focus on 0–8 year old children Main data collected from parents Testing methodology to collect data directly from children
3. Survey to parents Questionnaire aimed to parents of 0–8 year olds Nationally representative sample Questions about media access, media use, restrictions of media use, parents’ attitudes 743 answers (one child from each family) Answers given mostly by mothers (97 %) 34 % 0–2 years, 32 % 3–5 years, 34 % 6–8 years 47 % girls, 53 % boys PRELIMINARY RESULTS (data has been available for less than a week)
4. 0–2 year old children Babies: Books and music From about 1 year of age: Television and video recordings 97 % do not use mobile phone, 95 % do not play digital games and 92 % do not use internet 71 % ”read” books or papers daily; one half have books read to them daily Media used with parents; a big deal of contents is chosen by parents Television: Magazine programs and adult programs Favorite programs: Pikku Kakkonen, Moomins, Bob the Builder, Postman Pat, Teletubbies
5. 3–5 year old children Main media: Books, television, music and video recordings Digital games for boys: Half of 5-year-old boys but only a quarter of girls play weekly 2/3 of children have books or magazines read to them daily, 96 % weekly More media use alone or with siblings than with parents: 35 % watch television mainly with adults, 46 % with siblings and friends and 19 % alone Television programs: Magazine programs and animations; favorites the same with younger children Boys start to use internet more regularly: 1/3 % of 4 year old boys and almost 1/2 of 5 year old boys use internet at least once a week (but only 1/7 and 1/4 of the girls)
6. 6–8 year old children Daily: Books and television Weekly: Radio/music, papers/magazines, digital games, mobile phone, video recordings, internet More regular internet use starts in pre-school: internet is used at least once a week by 42 % of the 6 year olds, 64 % of 7 year olds and 74 % of 8 year olds 42 % use internet mainly with parents, 28 % with friends or siblings and 30 % alone Favorite sites: Gaming sites, children’s (programs) sites and YouTube. Television and digital games are used mainly alone or with friends and siblings Mobile phone use starts at school start: 80 % of the 7 year olds and over 90 % of the 8 year olds have own phone
7. Gender differences (mainly 6–8 year olds) Digital games: Boys start playing games at younger age and play more regularly than girls ”Older” boys and girls play different games. Girls play only learning games, platform games and children’s games while boys play almost all types of games Boys have more gaming technology in their own rooms. Of 6–8 year olds 27 % of boys and 6 % of the girls have game console in own room, 40 % of boys and 24 % of girls have either game console or computer Boys start using internet regularly one or two years earlier than girls. Boys from 5 or 6 years of age, girls from 6 or 7 years of age Different genres in television. New genres among boys: sports and ”reality television humor”
