As society hurtles towards its increasingly digital future, we all have to accept that children are starting their journey into the online world at a much younger age than any of us did and experience far fewer barriers (they’ll never know how lucky they are not to hear a dial-up tone). BRIGHTMINDS has been looking into the effects that the digital age is having on young bright minds and has generated the fascinating infographic below that’s teeming with interesting details.

For example, did you know that there are more than 5 million users below the age of ten on Facebook, despite the minimum age requirement being 13? Of these users, over 200,000 of them are aged six or younger. These statistics and others listed below all point to the incredible fact that the average age for a child to start regularly consuming online media is now only 8-years-old.

Some of the statistics covered in our infographic may seem shocking, but they’re not necessarily doom and gloom statistics. Here at BRIGHTMINDS, we realise that the future of entertainment is increasingly becoming screen-based, but we believe there can be a healthy balance between traditional entertainment and online interaction in your child’s life.

Talking to mothers of young children, we found that the online safety of youngsters is a very common worry. Amelia, a 34-year-old mother from Kent told us about her own concerns.

“My nine-year-old was so insistent that she wanted a Facebook account, but I was so worried about her signing up. I’m glad to see from this research that my concerns are a common challenge for young people online,” she said. “Children’s tablets and other online parental tools are giving me the confidence that the web can be safe.”

One innovation we are listing in the BRIGHTMINDS collection this autumn catalogue is the Lexibook childrens’ tablets. This range of Android powered devices features extensive and easily configurable parental settings. These can control when and for how long the tablet can be used, what can be viewed online, which apps can be accessed and many other aspects. These tablets aren’t dumbed down childrens’ tablets, but fully featured devices that has been designed and optimised for a younger audience, and importantly have the same touch sensitive of adult tablets. The key feature for us is the perfect harmonisation of great quality educational content and good entertainment; Edutainment at its best.

We strongly believe that traditional values and play are an important part of every childhood, and the surge in interactive media and online interaction outlined in this infographic can be embraced within this generation