Today children are inclined towards computer and internet. They use it continuously
without caring for their normal study. They don’t bother about it. It creates some sort of
anxiety among parents. Write an article on the same in about 80-100 words.
Answers
Children in Britain sit in front of a TV or computer screen for four-and-a-half hours a day, alarming research reveals.
Youngsters now spend an average of one hour and 50 minutes online and two hours 40 minutes in front of the television every day.
A report released by research firm ChildWise suggests that screens are increasingly turning into electronic babysitters and young people in the UK are spending more time plugged in than ever.
It found that children spend more time in front of a screen in one day than they spend exercising in the entire week.
The worrying research found that 97 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds own a mobile phone – eight per cent more than the percentage of adults who own one.
And it showed that young girls have a voracious appetite for celebrity magazines such as OK! and Heat rather than more traditional teenage fare such as Jackie.
The study came as an academic warned that youngsters are using mobile phones to learn about each others’ bodies and access X-rated porn rather than learning about such matters ‘behind the bike sheds’.
Dr Emma Bond, an expert in childhood and youth studies, said adults ‘need to take our heads out of the sand’ about what is happening to young, impressionable children.
‘The research shows how children are using mobile phones in obtaining sexual material, developing their sexual identities and in their intimate relationships with each other,’ she added.
The Monitor Report 2010-11 found that children spent only two hours a week exercising in school, and taking part in physical activity out of school.
Two in three children aged between five and 16, and 77 per cent of children aged 11 to 16, have their own television or personal computer and, despite fears about online safety, almost half have internet access in their own room.
2m under 13s now use Facebook, while the average child spends 1hr 48minutes online daily
The study questioned almost 2,500 five to 16-year-olds about their computer, TV and reading habits. The findings show most go online daily and spend much of their time on social networks and video sharing sites such as YouTube.
But despite the popularity of the internet, the next generation is still likely to be one of telly addicts.
Around 63 per cent of children have a television set in their room but as the popularity of laptops increases and programmes are increasingly available online this is likely to drop.
'Your mother found this mobile under your mattress'
'Your mother found this mobile under your mattress'
A spokesman for ChildWise said: ‘The number of children with a laptop or PC now matches those with a television but TV continues to play an important role. The way they are watching is continually changing. Children are seeking out programming that they want, when they want it.
‘Children’s online activity is moving towards personal access for all, so that, in the