Even the pandemic is over, the connection of young people remains in the carpet

One would have expected that young people would take a little off their screens after these years of withdrawal at home. But obviously, the Web has not loosened its grip, since Quebecers aged 6 to 17 spent as much time on the Internet in 2022 as in 2021, and even more than in 2020, according to a new study. Decryption.

42%

This is the proportion of young Quebecers aged 6 to 17 who spent an average of more than 10 hours per week browsing the Internet in 2022, according to the results of a NETendances survey published Wednesday by the Academy of Transformation. (ATN) from Laval University. By comparison, this figure is similar to that of 2021 and higher than that of 2020 (40%), while it was only 25% in 2019.

“At 42%, I would not speak of an addiction, but more of reflexes, tools, gestures developed by young people during the pandemic to get information, communicate with their friends, have fun. Today, it’s part of their life, and now that we are in a post-pandemic period, they have pursued them by adapting them to their new daily life, “says Bruno Guglielminetti, spokesperson for the NETendances surveys at the ATN. .

TikTok, who’s there? It’s the web!

What activities does the age group in question do the most? Watching videos on platforms like YouTube and TikTok comes first (67%), followed by online games (64%), watching movies or series (47%) and entertainment websites (47%) . To access the Web, three quarters of 6 to 17 year olds use at least three electronic devices, while less than half used as many media in 2019. Which device saw the biggest gain in popularity among them after of the pandemic? It is the voice assistant with the strongest growth in use, from 15% in 2019 to 36% in 2022.

New board

Are these numbers cause for concern? Mr. Guglielminetti prefers to focus on quality rather than quantity. “When we look at their uses, it’s more to communicate with their friends or have fun, there’s not really any great danger. In the long term, we see the installation of trays of use, and it seems to me that this generation is in the process of installing a new one, the pandemic having forced their elbow more, ”says the spokesperson, who observes the evolutions of the use of the Web for 30 years.

Release from management

On the other hand, he notes in the study the decrease in the proportion of parents imposing rules governing the time of use of their children’s connected devices, which fell from 88% in 2019 to 82% in 2022. was there a burnout during the pandemic that resulted in letting go, or are parents still adjusting to post-pandemic life? That remains to be determined”, poses Bruno Guglielminetti, who insists on the importance of support to the detriment of control, inviting parents to consider the uses and fields of interest of their young people.

Intimidation: increased worry

Compared to the pre-pandemic period, parents of young people aged 6 to 17 are more likely to fear that their children will be targeted by acts of bullying on the internet, from relatives or friends, according to the new study. unknown: they are now 63% to consider this scenario as probable, with a more marked concern vis-à-vis their boys (69%) than their daughters (52%).