Survey: one in five children spend over five hours online every day
Around one fifth of Czech children and adolescents aged nine to fifteen spend more than five hours online every single day. This is according to a new survey conducted by the Czech Statistics Office (ČSÚ).
The survey, which included nearly 84,000 pupils from 1,100 schools across the country, focused on students in years four to nine of primary schools and the lower years of grammar schools. While the results are not conclusive, the Statistics Office highlighted that the high participation rate makes them strongly indicative.
Overall, the largest group of children and adolescents (22%) spend three hours online every single day. And the time spent online increases with age: about 30% of 15-year-olds spend more than five hours online daily, compared with roughly 10% of nine-year-olds.
While Instagram and TikTok are the most popular social networks, children most often use the internet for gaming, with boys playing far more than girls, who tend to prefer listening to music. In addition, YouTube remains extremely popular with about 46% of children using it regularly.
Ondřej, who is in year six at a primary school in Kladno, reflects on this:
“I think I could limit online activities a little. But I don’t believe that the internet is a bad thing.”
He adds that he sometimes also uses artificial intelligence. The head of the Czech Statistics Office, Marek Rojíček, explains that nine out of ten children in the Czech Republic use ChatGPT or other AI tools.
“It is clear that they have become accustomed to it. AI dominates among 15-year-olds, and only a small percentage of them have never used it. For nine-year-olds, AI is not yet taken for granted and around 30% of them have never used it.”
Children get their news about events in Czechia and around the world mainly from social media. However, according to Rojíček, their second source of information is more surprising: television.
The survey also found that children are getting their first phones at an increasingly young age. Among nine-year-olds, around a third got a phone from their parents even before starting primary school.
Klára is in year 8 and considers the survey useful:
“I think it’s all very interesting, as it also allows parents to find out what their children enjoy. And I think that’s important.”
The school in Kladno took part in the Czech Statistics Office’s project for the first time, says teacher Kristýna Deáková.
“For the pupils, it was a welcome change, partly, I imagine, because it meant they missed some regular lessons. The questionnaire was interesting, and some of the questions were even funny, so the children were happy to take part.”
The survey even uncovered children’s dream superpowers: girls most often wished to read minds, while boys were more likely to want the ability to stop time.
