Commentary
Pre-Teen Boys Are Online Gamers; Girls Listen to Music
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 13, 2005
A first-ever survey of American children ages 6-11, highlighting their magazine readership, multimedia and product usage, lifestyles, thoughts and feelings, by Mediamark Research, found that nearly 60% of respondents watch TV commercials when they come on. In addition, gaming is the top online activity, CD players outnumber MP3 players for music listening, and 70% want to make a lot of money when they are older.
The American Kids Study says that during the survey period, more than half of the 6-11 age group went online in the last 30 days, and 8.1% went online every day. 42.6% of respondents played games online, while 23.1% "Did stuff for school/homework." More girls than boys used e-mail, and just 2.6% of all respondents visited chat rooms.
When it comes to music, the largest percentage of respondents listened via a car radio, boys are more likely to play a video, Internet or computer game every day. The majority of both boys and girls say friends are an important part of their lives, and most report they want to go to college. In their room, the lead item is a CD player, closely followed by a TV.
Selected Findings, 2005 American Kids Study | |||
% All Kids | % Boys | % Girls | |
Online Usage | |||
Gone Online in last 30 days | 59.0 | 56.3 | 61.8 |
Goes Online Every Day | 8.1 | 7.6 | 8.7 |
Online Activities in the last month | |||
Played online games | 42.6 | 40.0 | 45.4 |
Did stuff for school/homework | 23.1 | 20.8 | 25.5 |
Used Email | 10.5 | 7.6 | 13.6 |
Used Instant Messenger | 6.5 | 5.6 | 7.4 |
Went to chat rooms | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
Listen to Music via... | |||
Car Radio | 74.0 | 72.0 | 76.1 |
CD Player | 62.8 | 56.5 | 69.5 |
Portable CD Player | 48.4 | 44.8 | 52.3 |
Stereo | 39.5 | 39.2 | 39.8 |
Computer | 25.5 | 23.1 | 28.1 |
Walkman that plays tapes/cassettes | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.4 |
Portable MP3 Player | 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.1 |
MP3 Player | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
Gaming | |||
Played Video, Internet, Computer game, last 30 days | 84.2 | 89.3 | 78.7 |
Play video, Internet, Computer game every day | 20.3 | 28.9 | 11.1 |
Statements agree completely with: | |||
I want to make a lot of money when I am older | 70.2 | 72.4 | 68.0 |
My friends are an important part of my life | 61.7 | 58.2 | 65.3 |
I am happy being my age | 61.1 | 59.4 | 62.9 |
I want to go to college | 59.3 | 55.4 | 63.3 |
I often do things to help other people | 50.8 | 47.4 | 54.5 |
Things you have in your room | |||
CD Player | 59.8 | 54.1 | 65.8 |
TV | 56.3 | 59.0 | 53.4 |
Video Game System | 36.1 | 47.1 | 24.4 |
Stereo | 28.6 | 28.0 | 29.2 |
DVD Player | 26.7 | 27.6 | 25.6 |
Computer | 16.8 | 17.9 | 15.6 |
Internet access | 6.6 | 7.0 | 6.1 |
Source: Mediamark Research, The American Kids Study, 2005 | |||
For more information about the study, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.