‘Boys will be Boys and Girls will be Girls’: Changes in Children’s Media Use

This article presents results from a large-scale longitudinal project on children 5 media use. First, changes in media use patterns over the period (9-12 years of age) are charted. Second, since gender is known to be a major structuring factor with regard to media use, particular attention is paid to differences in media use between boys and girls. The results indicate a very substantial, and growing, difference in the media use patterns of the sexes in this age group. It is concluded that, to a substantial extent, young males and females inhabit different media worlds