Engl. transl.: JIM 2016: Youth, information, (multi-) media Basic study on media usage by 12 to 19 year olds in Germany

As part of the 2016 JIM study, twelve to 19-year-olds in Germany were asked about their use of the media with regard to homework, learning and school, among other things. It also dealt with regulations relating to cell phones and WiFi in school. At 94 percent, almost all of the respondents are allowed to take their cell phones with them to school, but their use is regulated differently there. Two fifths are allowed to take their mobile phones with them to school, but in principle they are not allowed to use them there. A third of those surveyed are only allowed to use the cell phone in school during breaks and only 22 percent of the pupils are allowed to use their cell phone specifically for class during school lessons. As the pupils get older, they are given more options in this regard: Among the twelve to 13-year-olds, only one in ten are allowed to use the cell phone in class for class, while the figure for adult pupils is 45 percent. According to the students, WLAN is available in 41 percent of schools, but mostly it is not intended for use by students. 29 percent are generally not allowed to use the WLAN at the school, five percent of the students are allowed to use the school WLAN during breaks. In school lessons, WLAN access may only be used by seven percent, for example for research purposes as part of specific tasks. Overall, schoolchildren between the ages of twelve and 19 in Germany spend an average of 92 minutes on a weekday with their homework (with and without a computer / internet), girls invest significantly more time (106 minutes) than boys (78 minutes). The twelve to 19-year-old students work almost half of their study and homework time (43% or 40 minutes) every day at home on the computer or on the Internet for school. The digital homework time increases with the age of the young people from a good half an hour for the twelve to 13 year olds to a good three quarters of an hour for the adult students.

The question asking where series and films are watched, was answered with YouTube in the first instance (47%), followed by Netflix (29%) and various video-on-demand platforms, such as amazon prime or lovefilm.de (18%). Generally speaking, YouTube plays a very considerable role in the way adolescents use media on an everyday basis. 86% use YouTube at least several times a week, 56% even daily (48% for girls, 64% for boys). The proportion of regular YouTube users is higher for boys (89%) than for girls (81%). 55% of YouTube users watch music videos at least several times per week, short funny clips are regularly viewed by 40%, let's-play videos and comedy formats by YouTubers are watched regularly by one in every three users. Current affairs and news videos, learning videos or tutorials, as well as sports videos, are relevant to every fifth user. 16% find fashion or beauty videos very important. The proportion of those who regularly watch TV programmes or fragments of them is similar. Only eight per cent of people aged twelve to 19 play no digital games. Digital games are clearly a male-dominated topic. Four out of five boys regularly make use of digital games. This is true for less than every second girl. Furthermore, it is the younger ones who find those games most fascinating. Three quarters of those aged twelve to 13 play regularly, the percentage being only 61% among those aged 18 to 19. Furthermore, young people with a higher level of formal education (57% of regular users) are less keen players than teenagers with a poor educational background (64% of regular users). Admittedly, girls also find smartphone games interesting, but boys find them more attractive all the same. More than one in every three girls (36%) regularly play on their mobiles or smartphones, compared to every second boy (53%). Tablet games are of little importance in the everyday life of people aged twelve to 19 (13% of regular users). The average length of a playing session (including all playing options, i.e. computers, consoles, tablets, smartphones and the Internet) for twelve to 19-year-olds according to the respondents' own estimation is 77 minutes on a weekday (87 minutes in 2015). Girls play half the time boys do (46 minutes and 106 minutes, respectively). The JIM-study 2016 also looked at the way smartphones are used at school. The vast majority of pupils (94%) are allowed to take their mobile phone to school. The use of mobile phones, however, is normally subject to restrictions. Two-fifths are not allowed to use their mobile phone at school, every third pupil is allowed to use the device exclusively during breaks, and more than one in every five is allowed to use it in class for educational purposes. As regards internet access at school, 41% say that while a WLAN network is available at their school, it is not always intended to be used by pupils as well; 5% of pupils are allowed to use it only during breaks and 7% may use their school's WLAN to access the internet in class. Only adult pupils, 18% of whom are allowed to use school network in class, constitute an exception in this aspect. 68% are of the opinion that it would no longer be possible to manage their circle of friends without a mobile phone nowadays. More than every second (55%) is occasionally annoyed by too many messages on their mobile phone. One in every two identifies their mobile phone as very important for coordinating their school routine. 72% of adolescents admit to having periods that are generally mobile phone free, during which they make a conscious decision to switch the device off (or are obliged to do so).