Children in New Zealand are more media savvy than ever before, but know when they need to switch off the television, Internet or mobile phones, according to a new study, TVNZ reported Tuesday.

The country's Broadcast Minister Trevor Mallard on Tuesday released the Broadcasting Standards Authority report, Seen and Heard: Children's Media Use, Exposure, and Response.

Over the past six years, the media choices available to children have increased, with Internet penetration up to 61 percent of households in 2006. Six years prior, penetration was at 37 percent of households, TVNZ reported.

Additionally, almost half of children in New Zealand have a mobile phone, with mobile access per household up from 59 percent in 2001, to 74 percent in 2006. One in four children even take their mobile phone to bed with them, and a third of the children have a television in their room, the study stated, according to TVNZ.

The report is based on a Colmar Brunton survey of 604 New Zealand children between ages six and 13 and their primary caregivers.

The report also found that nearly all households in New Zealand have a television, radio, mobile phone and DVD player. Television and radio access has stayed relatively consistent from 2001 to 2006, while increases have been mainly in handheld and mobile media devices, such as iPods and MP3 players, TVNZ reported.

As children become more media savvy, they are also able to better gauge what is harmful or unsuitable media content, the report stated. When children come across inappropriate content, most of them said they turn off or switch to different content, while others said they tell an adult.