'Kids getting hooked to smartphones at age 10 in US'

The average age at which a child can get his or her first smartphone has now come down to 10.3 years, media said on Friday.

While the usage of tablets has surged from 26 percent to 55 percent as the kids' device of choice, smartphones are trailing at 45 percent but rising from 39 percent in 2012, technology website TechCrunch reported.

The report is based on data from Influence Central -- a US based marketing agency which revealed the way children are using technology in the present times.

The findings also showed that kids' access to internet via their own laptop or tablet has increased by 64 percent compared to just 42 percent in 2012

At 11.4 years, 39 percent of kids were found to have a social media account, while 11 percent got a social media account when they were younger than 10.

In 2012, 85 percent children used to access the internet from a room shared with the family -- however, the number has dropped to 76 percent today.

Currently, 24 percent have "private" access from their bedrooms as compared to 15 percent in 2012.

"The study was focused on children's smartphone ownership," Stacy DeBroff, CEO and founder of Influence Central was quoted as saying.

Unlike in the past where mobile phones were used by kids to connect with their parents, in the present times, they are increasingly used for a host of other activities like games, she added.

The data comes from the agency's larger ongoing study of about 500 women and their buying habits across the US.

--IANS

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