Kids in Grades 10 and 11 use the Net as a seamless extension of their social and school life. The predominant pattern for both boys and girls is to keep in touch with friends through instant messaging, to download or listen to music, and to do school work – usually all at the same time!
Many have their own electronic equipment to “stay connected.”
- Almost half have their own computer with an Internet connection (49 per cent) and cell phone (41 per cent).
- One-third have their own Webcam.
- 84 per cent use instant messaging on an average school day, for an average of 69 minutes a day.1
Teens this age also rely on the Net to explore their own interests, learn about the world and do school work. On a typical school day:
- Over half (64 per cent) use the Net to work on a topic of personal interest.
- Just under half (45 per cent) access news, weather and sports information. Three-quarters (76 per cent) do school work on the Net.
The diversity of their online interests is underlined by the fact that, for 60 per cent of kids, their favourite Web sites are not in the top 20 list.
A significant number also create online spaces to express themselves.
- One-quarter (26 per cent) have their own Web site.
- One-fifth (18 per cent) express their thoughts and record their daily lives in an online diary or Weblog.
Their favourite five Web sites are:
- Addicting Games
- eBaumsworld
- eBay
- Newgrounds
- Miniclip
Kids in this age group are interested in online games – eight of the top 20 sites are gaming sites – although more boys (80 per cent) play games on a daily basis than girls (46 per cent) do. Girls much prefer instant messaging their friends (82 per cent) over playing games (three per cent), although 60 per cent of boys also choose to instant message if they have an hour or two to spend online.
Social networking sites like Nexopia (number 24 on the list of favourites) provide another outlet to connect with friends. Kids can post pictures and tell a bit about themselves in online profiles, and then search through the site to find like-minded people. However, these sites often contain provocative and sexualized images and text, and encourage kids to participate in exhibitionist behaviours. A similar site Doyoulookgood – which asks visitors to rate the people who post profiles – is the number one site for Grade 8-11 girls in Quebec.
Some kids in this age group will also seek out sites that contain gore, pornography, hate, gambling or online chat, although boys (59 per cent) are three times more likely to do so than girls (21 per cent) are.
The sites teens this age hang out on are characterized by seamless marketing and by the aggressive collection of their personal information. However, one-third of this age group have learned to identify the commercial intent embedded in product-centred games, and two-thirds understand correctly that the presence of a privacy policy on a site does not mean the site will not share their personal information with others.
1. The total amount of time spent online can be less than the sum of minutes spent on each activity because kids typically do a variety of things concurrently.
