U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences NCES 2004–014 Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents in 2001 Statistical Analysis Report Matthew DeBell Education Statistics Services Institute/ American Institutes for Research Chris Chapman National Center for Education Statistics U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences NCES 2004–014 Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents in 2001 Statistical Analysis Report October 2003 U.S. Department of Education Rod Paige Secretary Institute of Education Sciences Grover J. Whitehurst Director National Center for Education Statistics Val Plisko Associate Commissioner The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. 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Box 1398 Jessup, MD 20794–1398 Call toll free 1–877–4ED–Pubs; or order online at http://www.edpubs.org Content Contact: Chris Chapman (202) 502–7414 Chris.Chapman@ed.gov Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank John Bailey of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology for helping to make this report possible. The authors would also like to thank Alex Janus of the U.S. Census Bureau, Nolan Bowie of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and Valena Plisko, Marilyn Seastrom, Jerry West, Bill Hussar, Edith McArthur, and Lee Hoffman of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, for their detailed reviews and thoughtful comments. The authors would also like to thank staff from the Education Statistics Services Institute (ESSI), including Sandy Eyster, who were instrumental in assuring the technical quality of the report. iii Highlights This report uses data from the September Computer and Internet Use supplement to the 2001 Current Population Survey to examine the use of computers and the Internet by American children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17. 1 The report examines the overall rate of use, the ways in which children and teens use the technologies, where the use occurs (home, school, and other locations), and the relationships of these aspects of computer and Internet use to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as children’s age and race/ethnicity and their parents’ education and family income. All statistical comparisons in this report were tested for significance at the 95 percent confidence level (p<.05), and all reported differences are statistically significant, unless otherwise noted. Key findings are as follows: • Most children and adolescents use these technologies (table 1). About 90 percent of children and adolescents ages 5–17 (47 million persons) use computers, and about 59 percent (31 million persons) use the Internet. • Use begins at an early age (figure 1). About three-quarters of 5-year-olds use computers, and over 90 percent of teens (ages 13–17) do so. About 25 percent of 5- year-olds use the Internet, and this number rises to over 50 percent by age 9 and to at least 75 percent by ages 15–17. • There is a “digital divide” (table 1). Computer and Internet use are divided along demographic and socioeconomic lines. Use of both technologies is higher among Whites than among Blacks and Hispanics and higher among Asians and American Indians than among Hispanics. 2 Five- through 17-year-olds living with more highly educated parents are more likely to use these technologies than those living with less 1 Current Population Survey interviews were conducted in about 56,000 households in September 2001 and collected information regarding 28,002 5- to 17-year-olds, including those enrolled in school and those not enrolled in school. One respondent per household was interviewed and that respondent provided information about the household and about individual household members, including information about computer and Internet use. Because a household’s respondent may not have full information regarding computer and Internet use by other members of the household, this method is a potential source of error in the data. 2 “White,” “Black,” “Asian,” and “American Indian” refer to White non-Hispanic; Black non-Hispanic; Asian or Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; and American Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo, non-Hispanic, respectively, and will be used throughout this report for ease of presentation. Hispanics may be of any race. iv well educated parents, and those living in households with higher family incomes are more likely to use computers and the Internet than those living in lower income households. • Disability, urbanicity, and household type are factors in the digital divide. Consistent with the findings of previous research (U.S. Department of Commerce 2002), 5- through 17-year-olds without a disability are more likely to use computers and the Internet than their disabled peers, and children and adolescents living outside of central cities are more likely to use computers than those living in central cities. When not controlling for other factors, children and adolescents from two-parent households are more likely to use the computer and the Internet than those from single-parent households, 3 and children and adolescents living outside of central cities are more likely to use the Internet than those living in central cities. However, when controlling for other factors such as family income and parent education, the association of household type and of Internet use outside of central cities was not statistically significant (table 2). • There are no differences between the sexes in overall computer or Internet use rates. In contrast to the 1990s, when boys were more likely to use computers and the Internet than girls were, overall computer and Internet use rates for boys and girls are now about the same. • More children and adolescents use computers at school (81 percent) than at home (65 percent) (table 3). The difference in school versus home computer use is larger for groups of 5- through 17-year-olds who are generally less likely to use computers. Computer use at school exceeds use at home by 30 percentage points or more for Blacks and for Hispanics. Use at school also exceeds use at home by 30 percentage points or more for those whose parents did not complete high school, who live with a single mother, who live in households where Spanish is the only language spoken by household members age 15 or over, or who live in households where the 3 The categories for family structure include “male-headed single-householder” and “female-headed single- householder.” “Single father” and “single mother” (or “single parent,” when referring to both) are used for ease of presentation. Some single-householders include nonrelatives or relatives other than the father or mother such as a grandfather or grandmother. v family income is under $20,000. However, home use is slightly more prevalent than school use for two groups: (1) children and adolescents whose parents have at least some graduate school education, and (2) children and adolescents who live in families with incomes of $75,000 or more per year. 4 • Use of home computers for playing games and for work on school assignments are common activities. A majority (59 percent) of 5- through 17-year-olds use home computers to play games, and over 40 percent use computers to connect to the Internet (46 percent) and to complete school assignments (44 percent) (table 4). Middle-school-age and high-school-age youth (ages 11–17) use home computers to complete school assignments (57–64 percent), to connect to the Internet (54-63 percent), and to play games (60-63 percent). • Home is the most common location for Internet access, followed by school. Although nearly all schools have Internet access, children and adolescents are more likely to access the Internet from their homes (table 6). Of those children and adolescents who use the Internet, 78 percent access it at home, compared to 68 percent who access it at school. Many of those who rely more on access at school come from lower income families (less than $35,000 per year) or have parents who have not earned at least a high school credential. • Many disadvantaged children and adolescents use the Internet only at school. Among the group of children and adolescents who access the Internet at only one location, 52 percent of those from families in poverty and 59 percent of those whose parents have not earned at least a high school credential do so at school. In comparison, 26 percent of those from families not in poverty and 39 percent of those with more highly educated parents do so only at school. This illustrates the role of schools in bridging the digital divide (table 7). • Considering all locations, use of the Internet for work on school assignments, e- mail, and games are common activities. About 72 percent of Internet users ages 5– 17 (or 42 percent of all youth in this age range) use the Internet to complete school 4 The prevalence of the use of a technology is measured in this report by the percentage of 5–17 year-olds using the technology. This report does not examine other aspects of the frequency of use, such as the number of incidents of use or the amount of time spent using technologies, because the CPS does not include these data. vi assignments, while 65 percent of users (38 percent of all persons 5–17) use the Internet for e-mail or instant messaging and 62 percent of users (36 percent of all persons 5–17) use it to play games (tables 8 and 9). vii Contents Acknowledgements iii Highlights iv List of Tables ix List of Figures x Introduction 1 Current Use and User Characteristics 3 Home and School Computer Use 11 Home Computer Activities 15 Internet Access Locations 22 Internet Activities 29 Conclusions 37 Methodological and Technical Notes 39 References 51 viii List of Tables Table 1. Percentage of children and adolescents age 5–17 who use computers and the Internet, by child and family/household characteristics: 2001………………………… 4 Table 2. Logistic regression analyses of child and family/household characteristics and computer and Internet use: 2001………………………………………………………… 9 Table 3. Percentage of children and adolescents age 5–17 using computers at home and at school, by child and family/household characteristics: 2001……………………… … 12 Table 4. Percentage of persons age 5–17 using home computers for specific activities, by child and family/household characteristics: 2001…………………………………….….16 Table 5. Percentage of home computer users age 5–17 who use home computers for specific activities, by child and family/household characteristics: 2001……………… 19 Table 6. Percentage of Internet users age 5–17 who use the Internet at specific locations, by child and family/household characteristics: 2001…………………………………….23 Table 7. Percentage of children and adolescents who use the Internet at only one location, by child and family/household characteristics and by location of use: 2001……………26 Table 8. Percentage of persons age 5–17 using the Internet for specific activities, by selected characteristics: 2001…………………………………………………….………30 Table 9. Percentage of Internet users age 5–17 using the Internet for specific activities, by selected characteristics: 2001…………………………………………………………….33 Table A1. Percentage of children and adolescents age 5–17 who use computers and the Internet, by age: 2001… …….……… … … … … ….…………………… ………53 Table A2. Percentage of adults who use computers and the Internet, by selected characteristics: 2001……………………………………………………………….…… 54 Table A3. Characteristics of persons age 5–17: 2001……………………………………55 Table A4. Characteristics of persons age 5–17 using computers at home and at school: 2001………………………………………………………………………………………56 ix [...]... attainment, and other factors? 3 How do children and adolescents use home computers and the Internet? 4 Where do children and adolescents use computers? Where do they use the Internet? How many users use the Internet in only one place, and what locations do these users favor? 5 Do the ways children and adolescents use computers and the Internet, and where they use them, vary by children s and adolescents ... interviewed and that respondent provided information both about the household and about individual household members, including information pertaining to their computer and Internet use. 1 Respondents provided information about the computer and Internet use experiences of 28,002 5- to 17-year-olds The following questions are addressed using these data: 1 What percentage of children and adolescents use computers... using computers or the Internet, by age: 2001 5 Figure 2 Percentage of children and adolescents using computers at home and at school, by parent educational attainment: 2001 13 Figure 3 Percentage of children and adolescents using computers at home and at school, by family income: 2001 14 Figure 4 Percentage of children and adolescents using computers at home and at school, by. .. (data shown in appendix table A1) About three quarters of children already use computers by the age of five, and a majority use the Internet by the age of nine Among high-school-age youth (ages 15–17), more than 90 percent use computers and at least three quarters use the Internet 3 Table 1 Percentage of children and adolescents age 5–17 who use computers and the Internet, by child and family/household... of using computers and the Internet Black and Hispanic children are less likely to use computers and the Internet than White children, and Asian children are less likely to use computers than White children Children living in central cities are less likely to use computers (but not less likely to use the Internet) than those living outside central cities Those with disabilities are less likely to use. .. the children and adolescents use computers and the Internet. 8 7 For example, after controlling for other factors such as household income, family structure is not significantly related to computer and Internet use However, it is the case that fewer children from single-parent families use computers and the Internet 8 This report does not examine the frequency of use or the amount of time spent using computers... difference in children s and adolescents use in households where Spanish is the only language spoken compared to other households For children and adolescents living in households that are Spanish-monolingual, the rate of computer use is 20 percentage points lower than those in households where other languages (usually English) are spoken Internet use by 5-through 17-year olds in Spanish-monolingual households... graduated from high school use computers and 32 percent of them use the Internet Approximately 96 percent of children and adolescents from households where at least one parent attended graduate school use computers and 74 percent of them use the Internet Eighty percent of poor 5- through 17-yearolds use computers compared to 93 percent of non-poor children, and the difference in Internet use is even larger... computers and the Internet? 1 Because a household’s informant may not have full information regarding computer and Internet use by other members of the household (especially when that use occurs at school), this method is a potential source of error in the data 1 2 Is use by children and adolescents related to age, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics such as race/ethnicity, family income, parents’... 17, Internet use has increased from about one third in 1997 to about two thirds in 2001 (U.S Department of Commerce 2002) Currently, the use of these technologies is more widespread among children and adolescents ages 5 through 17 than among adults: about 90 percent of 5- to 17-year-olds use computers and 59 percent use the Internet (table 1) This report describes computer and Internet use by children . members, including information about computer and Internet use. Because a household’s respondent may not have full information regarding computer and Internet. Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents in 2001, NCES 2004–014, by Matthew DeBell and Chris Chapman. Washington, DC: 2003. For ordering information