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INTERNET & YOUNG PEOPLE
source: www.nua.ie/surveys/index.cgi?f=
VS&art_id=905357170&rel=true
www.bridges.org/spanning/
chpt2.html
www.nua.com/surveys/how_
many_online/
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Globally, the highest number of Internet users is in the 35-45 age group, though some countries such as Australia and almost all the newly adopting countries have more users in lower age groups…- according to the latest figures from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, almost three-quarters (73%) of US children between the ages of 12 and 17 have Internet access;
- young people in the Netherlands are ready for the digital age, with Internet users over the age of 14 reaching 4 million in 2000 and 5.2 million in 2004;
- according to NetValue, the number of Internet users under the age of 17 in the United Kingdom has grown by 44% in the six months before March 2001 to almost 1.5 million (about 40% of British users);
- In newly ICT adopting countries, however, youngish groups will get the technology first, the divide is then expected to disperse as the ‘Internet generation’ ages and the overall number of users increase; (2)
- in 1999-2000, according to the UNDP's Human Development Report, the average Internet user in China and the UK was under 30;(1)
- a significant difference between developed and developing countries is related to the virtual absence of young children and elders in the telecenters of Third World nations. In Africa and South America the youngest users typically are 14 or 15 year-old while senior citizens are never found among customary users of telecenters. In contrast, children and the elderly are frequent users at public centers, especially libraries in the USA;
- to understand the big picture, however, it must be kept in mind that there are more Internet accounts in London than all of Africa (4) and that Finland alone has more Internet users than the whole of Latin America. (5)
(1) Source: World Bank, 2000.
(2) bridges.org 2003/2004, Creative Commons.
(3) According to Nua Internet Surveys.
(4) As reported at the 2000Digital Dividend Organisation’s international conference in Seattle.
(6) Source: World Economic Forum's Global Digital Divide Initiative (GDDI).
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