ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
40
Key facts
Key facts
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An Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) survey
found that 80% of young people said it was too easy
to access pornography online, and 72% feel that it is
leading to unrealistic views about sex – particularly
among boys. (page 2)
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A recent report found that 46% of 18-year-olds
felt that sending naked pictures to each other – a
practice more commonly known as ‘sexting’ – was
“part of everyday life for teenagers nowadays”.
(page 2)
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Agencies such as ChildLine are suggesting that calls
to them about cyberbullying (up 87%) and sexting/
pornography (up 145%) are increasing at alarming
rates. (page 2)
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In August 2015 a billion people used Facebook on
a single day, a seventh of the world’s population.
Facebook is seen as the third most significant
consumer invention, chosen by 23%. (page 4)
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In 2014 YouGov found that 84% of 18–24s had used
Wikipedia for professional or academic research,
compared to only 49% of 40–59 year olds. (page 4)
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82% of 11-18-year-old respondents to an online
survey said that they used a smartphone on a weekly
basis, compared to 9% who said they use a normal
mobile on a weekly basis. (page 5)
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95% of 11–18 year old respondents to an online
survey said they have downloaded apps. (page 5)
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83% of respondents to an online survey said their
parent pays their phone bill, while 17% said they pay
for their bill themselves. There are no statistically
significant gender differences. (page 5)
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Children aged 12–15 are turning away from talking on
the telephone. Just 3% of their communications time
is spent making voice calls, while the vast majority
(94%) is text based – such as instant messaging and
social networking. (page 6)
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20% of UK adults’ communications time is spent on
the phone on average. (page 6)
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Over four in ten households (44%) now have a tablet.
(page 6)
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Young adults are glued to their smartphones for 3
hours 36 minutes each day, nearly three times the
1 hour 22 minute average across all adults. (page 6)
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While technology is seen by many as a distraction
in our daily lives, a quarter (24%) of workers think
technology is improving their work-life balance. Just
under half (49%) say it is not making much difference
either way and 16% think technology is making their
work-life balance worse. (page 7)
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A survey of 13- to 18-year-olds found 24% reported
they were targeted on the Internet because of their
gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability or
transgender identity. (page 8)
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More than four in five (82%) youngsters have seen or
heard “online hate” in the previous 12 months, with
41% suggesting it had become more rife. (page 8)
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Researchers found that: 74%of teens had unfriended
and 58% had blocked other users to avoid sharing
information with them; 60% of teens kept their
profile private; 58% said they shared inside jokes or
cloaked their messages in some way; 57% decided
not to post something online because it may have
had negative consequences for them in the future;
and 26% reported false information to help protect
their privacy. (page 15)
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YouGov research from 2014 shows that 81% of UK
13–18-year-olds own their own smartphone, with
34% also owning a tablet. Primary-aged children are
equally tech savvy, with statistics from the same year
recording that 25% of children own their own tablet
before the age of eight and 70% are confident in
using mobile devices by the time they go to school.
(page 17)
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37 per cent of parents asked said that their child
spent between one and two hours a day playing with
tech gadgets, and 28 per cent said between two and
three hours. Moreover, 38 percent of two- to five-
year-olds own an Android tablet, and 32 per cent
own an iPad; almost a third (32 per cent) of these
kids also have a mobile phone. (page 19)
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Children aged 12–15 are spending more time online
(rising from 14.9 hours a week to 17.1 hours) and
spend as much time in a week using the Internet as
they do watching television. (page 20)
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Up to 43 per cent of kids are also more likely to
mostly use the Internet in their bedrooms. (page 21)
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5.25 million people over 60 – or one in three – report
feeling lonely at least sometimes. If nothing is done
to tackle the problem, the number will rise to 7.03
million by 2030, based on the expected increase in
the number of older people as well as the growing
number of those living alone. (page 30)
