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The Me Generation, Generation X, Generation Y...they’ve all had their time in the media spotlight. Now prepare yourself for “Digi-Kids,” the term that market research firm NPD Group uses to refer to youth ages 4-14 who spend more time on their computers instead of parked in front of a television.

Parents of digi-kids probably didn’t need a market research report to confirm all this, but NPD’s latest “Kids and Consumer Electronics” report shows that 75 percent of youth surveyed use a computer while only 70 percent say they use a TV. The report also shows an increase in usage of social networking sites for this particular demographic, which should be of particular interest to parents, educators and law enforcement worried about online predators.

Moms and dads still trying to decipher the text messaging hieroglyphics preferred by their sons and daughters won’t like the finding showing 20 percent of the “digi-kids” surveyed own their own cell phone, with 13 percent of - get this - four and five-year-olds saying they use them. Maybe I’m just too old school - and I realize this is not a new issue - but the idea of a child barely out of the toddler stage learning how to work a cell phone and text their peeps before they can master a bicycle is a little too Brave New World for me. Or is it Children of the Digi-Damned?

Read [NPD Group]

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