Laura Baehr Day 2, Session 2
Laura Baehr from YTV started a information packed presentation with by defining “kids” - a term she basically says [my words here] is about as precise as “hits” is to a website. In fact, there are five distinct segments, and they are as different from each other as is a page view from a unique visitor:
• Pre-school: 2-5
• Kids: 6-11
• Tweens: 9-14
• Teens: 13-19
In general, children of all ages are raised with more media than any generation ever, are raised on the internet, and are the most informed consumers ever. As well, collectively these segments influence 20 Billion of household purchases.
Most of Laura’s presentation focused on Tweens, of which there are 2.5 million in Canada. They spend an average of three hours on TV, and 1 hour using computer - 48 minutes of which is online. In fact, contrary to popular belief, TV viewing has remained stable for tweens over the past 20 years in terms of hours per week. What has changed is that multi-tasking is on the rise. While total time with media stable, media content has increased by an hour, and something like 80% of kids and tweens watch TV and are online as the same time [often + frequently].
Finally, Laura mentioned the real differences in the way boys and girls use and consume technology – and recommended a book - Why Gender Matters - as great reading to understand the hard wiring of…um…kids.
On a personal note, if you’re a parent of young children here is a great organization to check out (YTV is one of their supporters) – Mediacs. They focus on “building media savvy kids'.
