A study by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) shows that year 6 primary school children access social media mainly to watch videos

The UPV/EHU’s Weablearner research group has analysed the digital ecosystem of 11- to 12-year-old children across the Basque Autonomous Community, and concluded that two out of three own a smartphone. They use smartphones mainly to talk to family and friends. The researchers also point out that, at that age, access to social media mainly focusses on watching videos and not on generating content.

The moment a child gets his/her first mobile phone as a gift is a source of worry for many parents. Concern about the risks associated with smartphone use has led to more and more initiatives trying to delay that moment. According to research, in the first year of compulsory secondary education all students already own a mobile phone by the age of 13 to 14. Aware of this, the UPV/EHU Weablearner research team, devoted to the analysis of education and technology, wanted to study the digital ecosystem of children one year earlier, in the last year of primary school. In other words, the digital devices they use at the age of 11 to12 and what they use them for.

“This is an important age to investigate because although their digital culture has begun to take shape earlier, this is when they start to have their own mobile phones and when the biggest change occurs. Gifting a smartphone has become a rite of passage into a new phase. In a way, it represents the leap to adolescence, as they are given the key to use social media and, with it, the entry into a parallel world. This is of particular concern to families and a technophobic point of view has also spread. So we wanted to explore what the situation really is,” explained the researcher Eneko Tejada.

356 students from six public vocational training schools participated in the study. Two out of three say they have a mobile phone and a third say they already had one before the start of the school year. According to Tejada, “we can't say that smartphone ownership and use is widespread among 11- to 12-year-olds today, but we know it will be in the near future”.

In terms of usage, the study has shown that they use smartphones mainly to talk to family and friends: “Owning a smartphone means starting to use social media directly. Parents gift their children a mobile phone to communicate with them, to know where they are, etc. But they need to realise that offering a mobile phone makes it easier for them to make the leap to social media, as they will not be using their phones exclusively to talk to family. Data has shown that they also use them to interact with their friends. So parents need to take this into account when deciding when to give their children a smartphone,” Tejada explained.

Social media are not their main centre of interest

However, he stresses that 11- to -12-year-olds are not particularly attracted to social media, the function of which is not exclusively communication. They use these platforms as well, but not as much. They use them mainly to watch videos, mostly on YouTube, but they rarely access Instagram and Tik Tok. “Social media are not yet one of their main centres of interest and, unlike older students, they do not give away too much about themselves. They cannot be said to interact on these media, as very few of them generate content. Most of them just watch other people's content and they like short videos that can be watched quickly,” said Tejada.

In terms of use, the study revealed gender differences. Girls watch videos more than anything else on their mobile devices, while boys play video games.

The UPV/EHU researchers point out that, although they have detected few risk factors, caution needs to be exercised: “Strategic plans must be developed to promote safe, responsible use of the Internet, social media and video games. And families need to be given guidelines to help them decide when to offer their children a smartphone.”

Further information

Eneko Tejada-Garitano is a lecturer in the Department of Didactics and School Organisation of the Faculty of Education - Bilbao. He teaches on the Faculty's degree courses and on the Master's in Technology, Learning and Education. He belongs to the Weablearner research group and his main field of research is education technologies. He also coordinates the UPV/EHU’s Tantak education journal.

Bibliographical reference

Eneko Tejada Garitano, Urtza Garay Ruiz, Javier Portillo Berasaluze, Ander Arce Alonso 12-year-old students of Spain and their digital ecosystem: the cyberculture of the Frontier Collective Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research DOI: 10.1007/s44322-024-00017-6

Image caption: Eneko Tejada at the Bilbao Faculty of Education. | Photo: Fernando Gómez. UPV/EHU.