‘Children are ditching TV in favour of the iPad’

Around 34 per cent of children in this category own their own tablet, which is up from 19 per cent last year, according to official figures. And six in 10 children use a tablet at home – a 50 per cent increase on 2013 figures – while the number of children with televisions in their […]

Around 34 per cent of children in this category own their own tablet, which is up from 19 per cent last year, according to official figures. And six in 10 children use a tablet at home – a 50 per cent increase on 2013 figures – while the number of children with televisions in their rooms has fallen by a third in five years.
The rapid increase means that some preschoolers are using a tablet to surf the web, play games and watch video clips.
The report by UK regulator Ofcom found that 11 per cent of children aged three and four have their own tablet, up from three per cent last year.
The number of five to 15-year-olds who use a tablet to go online has doubled to 42 per cent since last year, while the proportion of children using the internet via a PC or laptop fell for the first time, by three per cent, to 88 per cent.
As well as replacing TVs, fewer children also have games consoles in their bedrooms as tablets take over the role.
The numbers who have radios in the bedroom have halved from 32 per cent in 2009.
Meanwhile, 20 per cent of children are watching TV on a tablet 33 per cent watch on-demand TV.
The report also revealed that girls prefer more ‘sociable’ media, sending more texts and making more mobile calls than boys, during a typical week.