Kids' expanding time online

The time children aged 2-11 spend online has grown 63% in the past five years, MEDIAWEEK reports, citing Nielsen Online figures. They spent seven hours a month online in 2004, compared to 11 hours online now, "with boys spending slightly more time on average than girls (7% more this past May)." Of course, everybody's online time has grown since 2004; the average Web user is spending 36% more time online now. The number of kids using the Web has grown too - by 18%, compared to the 10% growth in the number of all Web users, all ages. This past May, the 2-to-11-year-old age category reached 16 million, or 9.5% of the active online universe, Nielsen added. "That growth spurt is particularly noteworthy, since it happened during a period where the number of kids under 14 in the US declined by 1% ... per the U.S. Census Bureau." I think a good part of the explanation is the growth in virtual worlds, with kids 5-9 being the fastest-growing age group in a recent study about that (see this).