HOUSTON – Kids are growing increasingly connected to the internet and social media through more platforms, according to a study.
Influence Central, a marketing agency, surveyed 500 women about the role of digital technology on their families. The research is an update to its previous study in 2012.
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The agency found the average age for kids to get their first cell phone is 10.3-years-old. More children are also gaining access to the internet through their own laptops and tablets. In 2012, only 42-percent of kids had their own laptop or tablet, compared to 64-percent today.
Tablet use particularly rose from 26-percent to 55-percent.
Knowing that their children have their phones with them most of the day, more parents are using the GPS feature and apps on their smartphones to track their kids. The number of families actively using GPS has more than doubled to 15-percent in 2016, according the survey.
Kids are also getting their first social media accounts at the average age of 11.4-years-old. Another 11-percent got a social media account younger than 10.