More than 23% of Chinese children from 3 to 6 years old spend more than half an hour on the Internet every day, according to a report issued at a forum on children’s cyber security.

The report said that these preschoolers are similar to adults in terms of their online habits, enjoying online entertainment, shopping, and blogging.

Almost a quarter of the 7 year olds, or 24.2%, have studied game walkthroughs on the Internet, the report revealed. Sixty-one percent of them have downloaded games, videos, and music, and 8.5% have made online purchases.

In addition, 14.4% of this group posted pictures, videos, or texts online, and 4.7% of them have followers.

Children are also accessing social media at a younger age. Some of them begin to use instant messengers such as QQ and WeChat from 3 years old, and the penetration rate of these apps exceeds 50% among 12 year olds.

Easy and broad access to the Internet is the major reason for the large penetration rate among the children. According to education experts, Children learn by imitation. As a result, children will copy their parents’ online behaviors, including TV-viewing, chatting, shopping, and video game habits.

This is inevitable during human development, and there’s no need to fight the trend. But parents should guide their children with scientific methods and reduce the negative impact of the Internet on their children.