Teens Online

The past several years have seen an explosion in teenagers' use of the Internet. In response to the growing online presence of teens, a digital media culture has emerged that entertains, informs, and connects teens to one another. This "virtual mall" is a place where teens go to socialize with friends, listen to music, do their homework, window shop, and follow the latest trends.

Prevalence of Teens Online

• Census Bureau data indicate that between 1998 and 2001, the proportion of teens (ages 14–17) using the Internet increased from 51% to 75%, and the proportion of "tweens" online (ages 10–13) increased from 39% to 65%.1
• According to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet Project in Fall 2000, 73% of all teens ages 12–17 have used the Internet.2 A survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in Fall 2001 found that 95% of all teens ages 15–17 had ever gone online.3

How Teens Learn to Use the Internet

• Most kids say they teach themselves how to use the Internet (40%), while others learn from their parents (30%) or friends (23%), and fewer from siblings (10%) or in a class (5%).4

Where Teens Access the Net

• Census data from Fall 2001 indicate that half (51%) of kids ages 10–13 and 61% of those ages 14–17 have Internet access at home.5
• Another survey of older teens (15–17) found an even higher percentage with online access at home: 83%, including 29% with access from their bedrooms.6
• A survey of families with home Internet access indicates that 7 out of 10 (70%) locate the computer in an open space such as a family room, den, study, or living room, whereas almost 3 in 10 (27%) put the computer in a private area such as a bedroom.
• According to U.S. Census data, 43% of teens 14–17 use the Internet both at home and school, 19% only at home, and 13% only at school.8

How Often Teens Go Online

• Studies indicate that close to half of teens go online every day, with the vast majority going online at least once a week.9

How Much Time Teens Spend Online

• Teens (12–17) with home Internet access typically spend almost as much time online each day (46 minutes) as reading books (49 minutes), playing video games (55 minutes) or talking on the telephone (60 minutes).10
• Among older teens (15–17), a third use the Internet for 6 hours a week or more, 24% for 3–5 hours, 23% for 1–2 hours a week, and 20% for one hour a week or less.11

Factors Affecting Teen Online Access Family Income

• Census data indicate that children 10–17 from the lowest income households (less than $45,000 a year) are only about half as likely as kids from the highest income bracket (more than $75,000 a year) to use the Internet (46% versus 88%) and are four times as likely to go online only at school (21% versus 5%).12
• Comparing across income categories, another study found a signifi cant difference in online access between high- and low-income households with children ages 2–17: (24%) of low income families had home Internet access, compared to (58%) of middle-income families, and (79%) of high-income families.13

Race and Ethnicity

• According to U.S. Census data, about half of all Black and Hispanic teens do not use the Internet, compared to just one in
  five White or Asian American/Pacifi c Islander youths.14

Online Teen Media

• According to Nielsen Net/Ratings, commercial Web sites specifi cally designed for teens are the most popular places for youths ages 12–17 to visit when they go online from home.15
• A survey of the top teen commercial Web sites conducted by the Center for Media Education (CME) identified several popular themes: music (68%), fi lm (54%), relationships (52%), advice (49%), and fashion (43%).16
• The CME survey also identifi ed an alternative teen culture existing online. Although small in comparison to the commercial online culture, these "youth civic media" Web sites are devoted to cultivating self-expression and encouraging volunteerism and civic participation.17

Popular Online Activities Schoolwork

• The Internet is a primary research tool for teens. Census data indicates that 85% of older teens 14–17 and 77% of tweens 10–13 go online to do schoolwork.18 Among those teens who are online, 94% use the Internet for school research and 34% have downloaded a study aid.19
• The Internet is increasingly replacing the library as a primary research tool for doing major school projects. Online teens are three times more likely to rely mostly on Internet sources than library sources for their research (71% versus 24%).20

E-Mail and Instant Messaging

• E-mail is the most popular online activity for teens and its popularity increases as kids get older. Reports indicate that upwards of 90% of teens and 64% of tweens use e-mail.21
• Approximately 74% of online teens use instant messaging (IM).22
• Some online teens still prefer the telephone to communicate with friends, while others are replacing the telephone with the Internet. One study found that a majority (71%) of online teens 12–17 continue to use the telephone more often than the Web to contact friends.23
• More than half (56%) of online teens 12–17 have more than one e-mail address and/or screen name.24

Health Information

• One survey of online 12 to 17-year-olds found that one in four (26%) say they have gone online to look for "diet, health, or fi tness" information.25
• Another study of online teens 15–17 asked whether respondents had ever gone online to look for information on a series of youth-related health issues and found that three-quarters (76%) had researched one or more of those topics, including HIV/AIDS (31%), drug or alcohol abuse (25%), sexually transmitted diseases (24%), smoking (23%), pregnancy or birth control (21%), and depression or mental illness (18%).26
• Among those ages 15–17 who have looked for health information on the Web, more than half (53%) say they have had conversations with a parent or other adult about what they found online.27
• Four in ten teen online health seekers (41%) say they have changed their behavior because of health information they found online.28

Popular Online Activities

Online Youth, ages 15–17, Fall 2001