The parent of children entering their teens soon learn they are operating in an environment fraught with hidden dangers.
We can be reasonably certain teenagers do not turn into vampires, but what 12 to 14 year olds do in the digital shadows should be one of the hazards on parents’ danger lists.
Last week, funding agencies NZ on Air and Te Māngai Pāho released the results of research – undertaken by Verian on their behalf – that provides numerous insights into children’s media use. It is part of the ‘Where Are The Audiences?’ series of studies that provide broadcasters and content providers with invaluable information that can inform future inputs and outputs.
The research is based on insights from media diaries to capture children’s media use across a week, 20 two-hour in-home interviews in five centres across the country, and a quantitative survey of 1024 parents and their children. You can access the reports here.
Among the findings was a clear need to do more to attract early teens and their younger siblings to local content. They are more drawn to trendy offerings on international platforms, particularly YouTube.
As a result, NZ On Air has announced the launch of a new hub for local children’s content on YouTube and YouTube Kids called KIDOGO.
Content funded by both agencies can now be found on two YouTube channels aimed at distinct age ranges. KIDOGO Junior has content for pre-schoolers, while KIDOGO is aimed at primary-school kids. The channels provide an additional avenue for content discovery, complementing local platforms.
The logic appears to be that, if children are attracted to local content while at primary school, they will continue that interest into their teens and beyond. It is sound thinking.
The research also contains warning signs over unsupervised online activity as children get older and enter their teenage years. Continue reading “What do our early teens do in the digital shadows?”
