Engl. transl.: KIM 2018: Study of the media use of 6- to 13-year-olds in Germany

Children and the media have been an important topic in education and upbringing for over twenty years. While at the end of the 1990s the question of what effects television would have on children and whether there should be a program for younger children at all, the focus today is on the smartphone. Parents discuss the correct starting age and in schools the use of cell phones in class and rules for class chat are discussed. The use of smartphones and the introduction to communication with social media are controversial topics that concern parents and are also discussed in society as a whole. The KIM study, with its 20-year research continuity, shows whether these topics are also relevant from the point of view of children between the ages of six and 13 and which media come first with regard to the intensity of use of this age group. The first KIM study was carried out in 1999 and, with a representative image of the children's media behavior, formed the basis for a series of studies that is now considered a basic study. (KIM Study 2018, p.2)