Gaming is nearly ubiquitous with Kids Online.

Asked what activities they did online in the last 30 days, 78.1% of children ages 6-11 reported they played online games, by far the largest percentage performing any particular online activity. The percentage of boys and girls who played online games was virtually the same, 77.7% vs. 78.5%, respectively.

Boys, however, were much more likely to report they went online to get “Tips” or “Cheats” for their gaming. Cheats are codes that can be entered into a video game to change the game’s behavior, alter characters’ look and abilities, skip levels, or access hidden features. One-quarter of boys (25.8%) versus only 5.6% of girls report they went online to get tips or cheats for their gaming.

Other top online activities among children are Doing Stuff for School/Homework (34.25); Listening to Music (28.6%); and Watching Videos (26.2%). Girls are significantly more likely than boys to have listened to music online in the past 30 days (33.0% vs. 24.1%). Boys, on the other hand, are slightly more likely than girls to have watched videos online in the past 30 days (28.9% vs. 23.5%).

Nearly one in three (29.2%) of children who went online in the past 30 days report they have their own email addresses. A larger percentage of girls than boys (32.0% vs. 26.3%) report they have their own e-mail address.

“Online gaming is clearly firmly entrenched as a pastime in the lives of most American kids,” said Anne Marie Kelly, Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Planning at MRI. “The wide gap between the percentage of boys and girls using cheats could suggest boys are more engaged with their games, an insight of interest to marketers targeting kids. Moreover, the level of personal e-mail addresses among kids speaks to how dramatically e- mail has changed, and will continue to change, the way we communicate.”

Approximately 5,000 children responded to the study, questionnaires for which were sent to households with children ages 6-11 that were interviewed for MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer.

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