Kids and PCs

61% of children now have (PDF link) a television set in their bedrooms, 17% have their own PC - and own-room access to such media technologies is linked to substantial changes in how kids use media.

Based on interviews with 245 children ages 8 to 17, the new study also shows that 35% of kids have videogame systems in their rooms, 14% have their own DVD player, and 9% have Internet access via a PC in their bedrooms. And the presence of these technologies correlates with significant changes in media behavior; for example, among children with an own-room television:

• 46% do at least half of their TV viewing on that set;
• 75% report multitasking while watching TV (vs. 65% of kids without their own sets)
• 43% have visited a Web site as the result of a TV ad within the past week (vs. 24% of kids without their own TVs)
• 50% say they have parental rules for their TV use (vs. 61% of kids without their own sets)

The relatively few kids with own-room Internet access also report substantial effects on their media use:

• 57% say all of their Internet use takes place in their rooms
• 61% report having parental rules restricting their Web use, compared to 69% of Internet-using kids who do not have own-room Web connections