KEY POINTS:
Children and teenagers rank outdoor activities and hanging out with friends well above sitting in front of a TV or a computer, a new study has found.
More encouraging to parents, young people have not increased the total time they spend using computers and mobile phones in the past 12 years.
Most parents think their children benefit from technology but only 11 per cent of those surveyed allowed their kids to have internet access in their bedrooms, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) study found.
The government authority regulates internet, telecommunications and broadcasting in Australia, which includes supporting parents in filtering what their children view over the web.
The ACMA report, Media and Communications in Australian Families 2007, took 18 months to complete and surveyed 751 family households with children between the ages of 8 and 17.
Children spend 51 per cent of their free time engaging in their four favourite pursuits, which focus around outdoor activities and hanging out with other people.
Watching TV ranked fifth followed by reading-drawing, listening to recorded music and playing video or computer games.
The study found children spent the other 49 per cent of their free time using electronic devices such as TVs, iPods, mobile phones, computers and gaming devices.
The proportion of time spent on physical activity and with friends has not changed since a 1995 report produced by the former Australian Broadcasting Authority.
The current study did not measure how children use multiple technologies at once, but ACMA chairman Chris Chapman said their ability to multi-task was baffling.
"Their ability to actually fit in nine hours, 10, 11 or 12 hours into the traditional seven hours of discretionary time is a marvel of the modern world," Mr Chapman said.
Almost all the households surveyed have three TVs, two DVD players, two computers and three mobile phones.
About 91 per cent have internet access, 76 per cent have access to broadband services and 77 per cent have an electronic gaming console at home.
In a day, the average child watches about two hours of TV and is on the internet about 1.25 hours.
Internet usage increases to 2.5 hours a day for young people between the ages of 15-17.
For mobile phone usage, just over half of children surveyed used a phone over a period of three days with an average daily usage time of 19 minutes.
Some 96 per cent of parents saw the benefits of their children using the internet, 82 per cent favoured TV and 80 per cent saw the safety and security of keeping in touch with their children via mobile phones.
Mr Chapman said ACMA had struck a balance in its education programmes to schools and family households to shield children from unsavoury content without stifling technology.
- AAP
