Children in Scotland would miss their games consoles more than TV
Children in Scotland would miss their games consoles more than the internet and TV, and use their mobile phones more than children in the rest of the UK, new Ofcom research reveals.
32% of children in Scotland would miss their games consoles most compared to 16% (internet) and 25% (TV). Five to 15 year olds make around 20 calls on their mobile phones per week which is higher than the UK average.
More children in Scotland aged 5 to 15 than in the UK as a whole have a games console (76% compared with 63%), and television in their bedroom (76% compared with 65%). Among users, children in Scotland spend an average 8.8 hours a week with their games consoles.
Ofcom's annual ‘Media Literacy in the Nations' reports investigatemedia use and attitudes among children aged 5-15 and their parents/carers, and adults aged 16+, across the UK.
Children's internet use
Children in Scotland are less likely than all UK children to have access to the internet at home either through a PC or a laptop (79% compared with 87%). However, those who use the internet claim to spend as much time on the internet as any children in the UK at 11.4 hours per week.
Children in Scotland are also less likely than all UK children to use the internet at least weekly for schoolwork/ homework (52% compared to 67%) or for news (7% compared to 15%). But over half of all children who use the internet at home in Scotland now use the internet weekly for social networking compared with 39 per cent in 2009.
Staying safe online
Seven in ten (70%) parents of internet users questioned in Scotland agree that the benefits of the internet outweigh the risks involved for their children (as per the UK average) but are less likely to think that their children are being taught at school how to use the internet safely (66% compared withthe UK 78%). In line with what parents believe, children in Scotland are less likely to say they have lessons about the internet at school (64% compared with 79%).
Ninety two per cent of children aged 8-15 in Scotland who use the internet say that they have been given advice and information about staying safe online but they are less likely to thinkthis was received from teachers (60% compared with 74%).
Eighty one per cent of parents feel confident that they know enough themselves to help their children stay safe online. They are less concerned than parents elsewhere in the UK about various aspects of possible online risk: they are more likely to say they are "not at all" concerned about who their child is in contact with online (50% compared with 41%), that their children might give out personal details to inappropriate people (55% compared to 44%), that their child may be bullied online (58% compared to 45%)or that their child might download viruses or other harmful software (56% compared to 43%).
Parental rules
Only 26% of parents of children who use the internet at home aged 5-15 in Scotlandhave controls in place to stop their children viewing certain types of internet content - compared to the UK average of 37%.
Adults in Scotland see the value of the internet
In terms of the types of activity ever made by internet users, those in Scotlandare more likely to have bought or sold things online (88% compared with 81%) and a majority of internet users in Scotland say they have made savings through online activities such as buying something online rather than in the shops (71%), comparing prices online (57%), or booking travel online (55%).
Furthermore, internet users in Scotland are more likely than users across the UK as a whole to say they would be happy to provide their credit card details (40% in Scotland compared with 30% for the UK).
Internet users in Scotland also differ from UK users in terms of the types of judgements they make about websites before entering personal information. They are more likely to make a judgement based on professional signs such as a padlock or system messages (67% compared with 55%).
As with the UK as a whole, around six in ten internet users in Scotland have concerns about what is on the internet (57% compared with 54%). Users in Scotland are less likely than those in the UK overall to have concerns about mobile phones (12% compared with 24%) and about radio (2% compared with 9%). In 2009, users in Scotland were less likely than all in the UK to have concerns about television, but this measure is now at a similar level in 2010 (33% compared with 40%).