Children spend 4 hours a day connected to screens outside the classroom

The year 2020 was a period of change due to the pandemic and the confinements, in which digitization became part of all the aspects that make up people’s lives, and which has given way to a more digital normality, in which minors spend an average of four hours connected to screens outside the classrooms.

Under the title ‘From change to adaptation: living and learning in a digital world’, Qustodio’s report analyzes anonymous information provided by 400,000 families with children between the ages of 4 and 18 in Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom during 2021, in addition to 1,200 interviews. For the first time, it has the perspective of minors to have a better understanding of what it means to grow up with technology.

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The report’s data shows that minors spend on average four hours a day connected to a screen outside the classrooma total of 1,460 hours a year or, what is the same, half the time we spend sleeping, as stated in a statement.

The report has data from more than 400,000 families. (Photo: referential / UTEC)

When analyzing data from online video platforms, the results show a drop in global use of 15.6% compared to 2020, going from 45 to 38 minutes a day. The most notable decrease occurs in Spain, where minors have reduced the time spent by 26.3%.

YouTube is still the favorite video platform for 60% of minorsfor 73% in the case of Spain, although there is a perceived decrease in the time of use globally of 12.5% ​​compared to 2020, which among Spaniards reaches 24%.

The most obvious drop is reflected in Twitch, which, despite closing the year with 2.84 million global users, 9 million livestreamers around the world and having achieved 150% growth in 2020, has fallen almost 26 % in time of use, being more evident in Spain and the United Kingdom, where it has been reduced by almost 43%.

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The most used online video platforms during 2021 by Spanish minors were Prime Video (47 minutes a day); YouTube, Netflix and Disney+ (41 min/day); Movistar+ (21 min/day); and Twitch (20 min/day).

Social networks were the main protagonists in 2020 and it seems that they continued to be so in 2021. Thus, the use of this type of application grew by 11.1% globally, while in Spain it fell by 1.9%, reaching 50 minutes on average.

(Photo: Shutterstock)

The star application among minors is TikTok, with 41% globally and 57% in Spain. Its use has grown by 21.3% in 2021. But the one that has climbed the most has been Snapchat, with an increase of more than 82% of the time of use globally, and 71.4% in Spain.

The most used social networks during 2021 by Spanish minors were Tiktok (80 min/day), Instagram (54 min/day), Snapchat (24 min/day), Twitter (11 min/day) and Pinterest (9 min/day ).

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Within the field of video games, the data remain unchanged in time of use except in Spain, where it fell by 15.1%. As in previous years, the type of video games and popularity remain in the same line: Roblox continues to lead the lists, with 56% of active profiles and, for the first time, it is also in first position in Spain ( 38%), unseating Brawl Stars (33%), which has led since 2019.

Minors spend a total of 173 minutes a day playing Roblox globally, 145 minutes a day in Spain, which represents an increase of 80.2% compared to the previous year. The other video games most used by Spanish minors are made up of Minecraft (34 min/day), Brawl Stars (30 min/day), Clash Royale (29 min/day) and Among Us (17 min/day).

In 2020, the confinements brought about by the pandemic encouraged the rise of educational ‘apps’, but the return to the classroom has caused their use time to grow by 14% in the US and English markets, but decrease by 25% in Spain. It has gone from 12 min/day to 9, although the time spent is still the highest of the three markets analysed.

Duolingo is the favorite educational platform for minors in the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain. Although if we talk about time of use, in Spain Smartick is the one to which they dedicate the most minutes per day (26 min/day), which represents a growth of 225% in the last year.

This year the global use of communication ‘apps’ has increased again, by 27.8%, going from 36 to 46 min/day. That is 150% more than social networks have grown.

WhatsApp is crowned as the communication ‘app’ par excellence in terms of popularity, with 34% of active profiles on average in the three markets analyzed, reaching 60% in Spain.

The communication ‘apps’ most used by Spanish minors are Zoom (51 min/day), WhatsApp (41 min/day), Discord (21 min/day), Skype (15 min/day) and Google Hangouts (12 min/day). /day).

Source: Elcomercio