Generation tech: More kids can play computer games than ride a bike

If you were in any doubt that technology is now a fundamental part of kids’ lives, these statistics prove it: 69 percent of children aged 2-5 can use a computer mouse, but only 11 percent can tie their own shoelaces. More young children know how to play a computer game (58 percent) than swim (20 percent) or ride a bike (52 percent). There is no gender divide. Boys and girls under the age of 5 were equally adept at using technology.

These are the results of a study commissioned by Internet security company AVG on how children aged 2-5 interact with technology. 2,200 mothers with Internet access in the USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Australia and New Zealand were polled.

Italian children are particularly handy with a mobile phone. 44 percent of Italian tots can make a phone call, as opposed to 25 percent in the US. American children are, however, at the top of the leaderboard when it comes to using smartphone and tablet apps, with 30 percent able to operate such an app.

An earlier study looked at the increasing tendency of parents to upload pictures of their newborns with the result that 92 percent of children now have an online footprint before they are 2 years old. The average “digital birth” happens at around six months old.