Engl. transl.: The use of mobile devices and Apps by children in Spain post-confinement

This report presents the results obtained from the second wave of the "Barometer of usage and consumption habits of children and adolescents on smart screens", co-directed jointly by the Audiovisual Content Observatory of the University of Salamanca and the Complutense Chair of Digital Communication in Childhood and Adolescence of the Complutense University of Madrid. The Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) is a member of the consortium of the "Safer Internet Centre Spain" (SIC-Spain) coordinated by INCIBE (Spanish National Institute of Cybersecurity). Among the activities entrusted to UCM within the framework of SIC-Spain is the diagnosis of the situation of the use of Information and Communication Technologies by children and adolescents in Spain. In this report for the SIC-Spain, an ad hoc exploitation of the data obtained from the 2nd wave of the Barometer carried out in 2020 has been carried out, with the following general objective: To analyse the expectations and habits of use of mobile devices (Smartphones, Tablets, and Voice Assistants) and their Applications (Apps) by children aged 6 to 12 years old after the confinement by SARS-CoV-2 in Spain. It also includes the following specific objectives: 1. To identify patterns in the use and consumption habits of mobile devices and their Apps by children. 2. To analyse the differences by sex, age, income and territory according to the patterns of use and consumption patterns of mobile devices and their Apps. 3. Analyse the main components related to the use and consumption of mobile devices mobile devices and Apps, as well as safety in their use and consumption. 4. Identify the desires and demands that children have in relation to entertainment, leisure, education, entertainment, leisure, education and socialisation in the digital environment. This research is aligned with the actions of the Children Youth and Media Section of the ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association), and its congress held in September 2019, which focused on the use of smart devices in children aged 7 to 9 years in Spain. The research carried out by the teams led by Sonia Livingstone, Cristina Ponte and Elisabeth Staksrud (Livingstone et al 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2013, Ponte et al, 2019, Staksrud et al 2013) on the study of the risks and opportunities in the use of the Internet, in the Kids Online and Global Kids Online projects, has stood out for the last 15 years as background to the study presented here. Likewise, the organisation Common Sense Media started a research project "Zero to Eight" in 2011, which has had successive editions. It is also necessary to remark the studies on media literacy by Jackie Marsh's team at Cost Action DigiLitEY and related research. Other recent research has been devoted to the penetration of mobile screen devices at early ages with the application of interdisciplinary techniques on phenomena related to the use of these devices (Crescenzi-Lanna et al, 2019) such as risks and opportunities (Livingstone, 2018, 2017), usage and consumption habits (Núñez, Ortega-Mohedano & Larrañaga, 2021) and well-being in childhood (Ortega-Mohedano & Pinto-Hernández, 2020). The main sections of the "Barometer of the usage and consumption habits of children and adolescents on smart screens" include: monitoring the use of devices and Apps, the consumption of technological products, and the analysis of the opinion of children and adolescents as consumers. There is a need to build systems for measuring, monitoring, and periodically evaluating the habits of use and consumption of media audiences on mobile devices by children. Meeting diverse demands: - The increasing need for social knowledge about the use and consumption of smart screens. - From the different providers of products and services, whether private or public, to know, measure, and evaluate usage and consumption habits such as indicators (i.e.: Share, Rating, consumption times and habits, advertising consumption, accompanied consumption, perceived opportunities, and threats...). - Detection of the socio-cultural changes that are taking place in a 'target' of digital consumer-users and with consumption patterns more located in multi-device multi-platforms. Childhood is a phenomenon and an integrated and stable structural component in the development of societies (Jens Qvortrup, 1993). Children are social actors who interact with other groups, and thus modify, construct and contribute to the reproduction of changes and transformations. Giving children an inclusive and relevant role in the actions of their present has a positive impact on the knowledge of changes and transformations in current and future societies. This research allows deepening in the knowledge of childhood, its social action, and the recognition of children's rights. It makes them visible for the public agenda by gathering their opinions about their inclusion in the digital society. In order to carry out this study, a children's rights approach was used, in particular by observing the following rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): the right of access to appropriate information (art. 17 of the CRC), the right to privacy (art. 16 of the CRC), the right to freedom of expression (art. 13 of the CRC), the right to the aims of education (art. 29 of the CRC), and the right to play, leisure, and free time (art. 31 of the CRC). It also includes the sociology of childhood as a theoretical framework for analysis.

In this study, both boys' and girls' views on the use of devices and Apps during confinement and post-confinement have been taken into consideration. Núñez-Gómez, Ortega-Mohedano, Monguí-Monsalve & Larrañaga (2020: 47) divide the framework of analysis of the study into five dimensions of analysis: Socialisation, Learning, Norms of Internet Use, Quality Digital Consumption, Safety in the use of digital products and services. In relation to these dimensions, the authors point out that: - The most important dimensions are those linked to digital activities such as entertainment, social relations and therefore integrated in the "socialisation" dimension, and those related to learning and access and management of information that are integrated in the "learning" dimension. -It is noteworthy the importance given to the dimensions: "norms of use" (88.7%), "learning" (87.4%) and "socialisation" (63.2%). -The children in the sample give less importance to safety in the use of digital products and services, with 29.6 % giving this dimension a very low or low rating. On the other hand, it can be seen that they give more importance to quality digital consumption. During confinement, there is a noticeable increase in the use of devices. Smartphone use increased by 84% during confinement. Núñez-Gómez, Ortega-Mohedano, Monguí-Monsalve & Larrañaga (2020: 47) point out that "this increase is due to the boredom of being confined, the availability of more time, not being able to go out (in many cases sharing time at home with their parents), the demand for more entertainment, and the explicit permission of parents to use their Smartphones". The use of the tablet increased by 70 % and the increase in the use of the voice assistant was lower during confinement (44.8 %). Activities related to entertainment are the priority use of all devices. During the confinement, according to the children's opinion, the following stands out "87.8 % missed their friends and 80.6 % would have liked to have been able to spend more time with their parents" Núñez-Gómez, Ortega-Mohedano, Monguí-Monsalve & Larrañaga (2020: 48). The authors also highlight that 49.6% of children said that they did not learn the same at home as they did at school and 45% said that the lessons were not more fun because they were online. 29.7% of children state that they were not able to use the devices as much as they would have liked. Regarding the rules of Internet use, Núñez-Gómez, Ortega-Mohedano, Monguí-Monsalve & Larrañaga (2020: 48) observe that parents "became more permissive with the use of devices in the context of the circumstances generated by the confinement", the authors also point out that regarding the learning dimension, "there has been an increase in digital activities linked to learning, both those activities linked to formal education as well as those that linked to a more personal interest in learning and as a way to address gaps in the implementation of online education" (p.48). Regarding the post-confinement situations, results show that there is a high penetration of devices in Spanish households, with a high and diversified frequency of use.