Playing online games is the number one pastime on the internet for young Australians according to new research.
The Roy Morgan research found 88 per cent of young Australians aged six to 13 used the internet in the year ending June 2010.
The research found playing online games was the number one internet pastime for young Australians, with 64 per cent of boys and 54 per cent of girls enjoying online games.
Other popular internet uses included looking at websites for fun, assisting with homework, chatting with friends and sending messages.
Downloading games and/or music was also a common activity, with 16 per cent of girls and 20 per cent of boys spending time on the internet downloading in the four weeks of the survey.
“This new generation of young Australians have grown up with the internet being a part of virtually every activity they do, from playing games to homework, music or social interaction,” says Roy Morgan’s Michael Duncan.
The survey supports recent data released by the Federal Government that found 9 and 10-year-old Australian children were using a computer to regularly play games at home.
44 per cent reported playing games (not on the internet) at least once a week, while 33 per cent reported playing games on the internet at least once a week.
Only a relatively small proportion of parents had concerns regarding their child’s use of media and technology. However, more parents of 9-10 year olds were more concerned about playing electronic games (21 per cent) than TV (18 per cent) or DVD (10 per cent) watching, or internet use (16 per cent).
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