introduction and review of related literature of my term paper
Human development is a lifelong process of physical, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. In the early stages of life—from babyhood to childhood, childhood to adolescence, and adolescence to adulthood—enormous changes take place. Throughout the process, each person develops attitudes and values that guide choices, relationships, and understanding.
Sexuality is also a lifelong process. Infants, children, teens, and adults are sexual beings. Just as it is important to enhance a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, so it is important to lay foundations for a child's sexual growth. Adults have a responsibility to help young people understand and accept their evolving sexuality. Read on to learn more about human growth and development.
Parent-Child Communication: Promoting Sexually Healthy Youth
Infants & Toddlers—Ages 0 to 3
Preschoolers—Ages 4 to 5
Grade Schoolers—Ages 6 to 8
Preteens—Ages 9 to 12
Teens—Ages 13 to 17 Young
Adults—Ages 18 and Over
It's fun, but does it make you smarter?
Researchers find a relationship between children's Internet use and academic performance.
By Erika Packard
Monitor Staff
November 2007, Vol 38, No. 10
Print version: page 44
For most children and teenagers, using the Internet has joined watching television and talking on the phone in the repertoire of typical behavior. In fact, 87 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds are now online, according to a 2005 Pew Research Center report. That's a 24 percent increase over the previous four years, leading parents and policymakers to worry about the effect access to worlds of information--and misinformation--has on children. Psychologists are only beginning to answer that question, but a study led by Michigan State University psychologist Linda Jackson, PhD, showed that home Internet use improved standardized reading test scores. Other researchers have found that having the Internet at home encourages children to be more self-directed learners.
"We had the same question for television decades ago, but I think the Internet is more important than television because it's interactive," says Jackson. "It's 24/7 and it's ubiquitous in young people's lives."
The positive effects of Internet use appear especially pronounced among poor children, say researchers. Unfortunately, these children are also the least likely to have home computers, which some experts say may put them at a disadvantage.
"The interesting twist here is that the very children who are most likely to benefit from home Internet access are the ones least likely to have it," says Jackson. "It's a classic digital divide issue."
Point, click and read
In her research, published in a 2006 Developmental Psychology (Vol. 42, No. 3, pages 429-435) special section on Internet use, Jackson studied 140 urban children as part of HomeNetToo, a longitudinal field study designed to assess the effects of Internet use in low-income families. Most of the child participants were African American and around 13 years old; 75 percent lived in single-parent households with an average annual income of $15,000 or less. The children were also underperforming in school, scoring in the 30th percentile on standardized reading tests at the beginning of the study.
Jackson and her colleagues provided each family with a home computer and free Internet access. The researchers automatically and continuously recorded the children's Internet use, and participants completed periodic surveys and participated in home visits.
They found that children who used the Internet more had higher scores on standardized reading tests after six months, and higher grade point averages one year and 16 months after the start of the study than did children who used it less. More time spent reading, given the heavily text-based nature of Web pages, may account for the improvement. Jackson also suggests that there may be yet-undiscovered differences between reading online and reading offline that may make online reading particularly attractive to children and teenagers.
"What's unique about the Internet as compared with traditional ways of developing academic performance skills is that it's more of a fun environment," she says. "It's a play tool. You can learn without any pain. Beneficial academic outcomes may just be a coincidental effect of having a good time."
What's more, online reading may enhance skills that traditional book reading doesn't tap, says Donald Leu,PhD, the John and Maria Neag-Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology at the University of Connecticut and director of the New Literacies Research Lab. He's found no substantial association between online reading comprehension performance and performance on state reading assessments, as described in a 2005 report submitted to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory/Learning Point Associates (available online at www.newliteracies.uconn.edu/ncrel_files/FinalNCRELReport.pdf). That's because online reading takes different skills than traditional book reading, he says. Online reading relies heavily on information-location skills, including how to use search engines, as well as information-synthesis and critical evaluation skills.
"The studies that just look at learning fail to recognize that you have to have these online reading comprehension strategies in place before you can really learn very much with Internet information," says Leu.
Leu is looking for ways to improve adolescents' Internet reading comprehension through a three-year, U.S. Department of Education-funded research project, coled by reading education expert David Reinking, PhD, Eugene T. Moore Professor of Teacher Education at Clemson University.
About half of the children the team studies don't use search engines, Leu says, preferring to zuse an ineffective "dot com strategy." For example, if they are searching for information on the Iraq War, they will enter the URL "iraqwar.com." This often leads to ad-filled trap sites that provide incorrect or irrelevant information, says Leu. And, the 50 percent of children who do use search engines use a "click and look strategy" of opening each returned site instead of reading the search engine synopsis. If a site appears as the children imagine it should, they believe it's reliable, he says.
Leu and colleagues asked 50 top reading seventh-graders from school districts in rural South Carolina and urban Connecticut to assess the reliability of a slickly designed Web site on the mythical "endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus." Though the site is a known hoax, all but one child claimed it was scientifically valid. And even after the researchers informed the participants that the site was a joke, about half of the children were adamant that it was indeed truthful, says Leu.
Self-directed learners
To help children winnow the tree octopus sites from legitimate information, they must develop online reading comprehension skills. These skills are particularly crucial because other researchers have found that children go online to clarify what they're being taught in school.
"Instead of waiting for a tutor or someone to help them, they are very proactive in seeking help for themselves," says Kallen Tsikalas, director of research and learning services for Computers for Youth (CFY), a national educational nonprofit organization.
Home Internet use during the middleschool years appears to empower students and reengage them in learning at an age when their academic achievement traditionally drops, adds Tsikalas.
Indeed, 70 percent of students in CFY's program consistently say that having a home computer helps them become more curious and feel more confident, and nearly two-thirds of students report working harder in school because they have a home computer, the organization reports.
Though researchers have found encouraging evidence that Internet use can help children stay interested in school and develop reading skills, it's not an easy area to study, say experts.
"A big challenge to researchers here is that we are dealing with a major generational gap--we are still struggling to catch up with evolving technology and how young people are using it," says Elisheva Gross, PhD, of the Children's Digital Media Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The publication lag of scholarly research is also at odds with a technology that's changing and expanding by the day.
"Especially when you talk about books published on this topic, they are historical documents at this point," says Gross.
Is America lagging?
Although the challenges of studying Internet use abound, Leu argues that America needs to catch up with other countries that are harnessing the Internet for educational purposes. In Finland, for example, teachers take five weeks of paid leave to complete professional development training on teaching online reading comprehension and Internet-use skills. In Japan, the government provides 98 percent of its households with broadband access for only $22 a month.
"The government knows that kids read more out of school than they do in school, and they want to make certain that kids are reading online when they are at home," says Leu. "Most developed nations...know their kids will have to compete in a global information environment and they are trying to prepare them for that."
By contrast, America's "report card," the National Assessment of Educational Progress, just defined its framework for the 2009-19 assessment and chose not to include a measure of online reading skills.
"This is supposed to be the gold standard of our performance on reading, and until 2019 we are not going to have a handle on how our kids are doing on the most important information resource we have available," says Leu. http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov07/itsfun.aspx Children and the Internet
Many children nowadays use, or at least have access to the internet. But most people are blinded by all the benefits of the internet, and fail to notice any of the problems that can come from overuse. Since the internet is a new technology, not many studies have been done to determine how beneficial or detrimental it can be to children. Although the internet may have many benefits to children, it can also be very harmful to them.
One of the most obvious problems with children using the internet is the chance of getting addicted. Internet addiction is a serious thing, but hasn t drawn much attention due to the fact that it is a newer problem in society. Children that have grown up using computers will naturally be more susceptible to getting hooked on the internet. Many children spend more time on the computer than they spend watching television. Most of the time children spend on the computer can be attributed to the internet. This computer overuse results in less time for children to study, do homework, read, exercise, or participate in any out of school organizations. Such a pattern will eventually affect the child s grades, health, and social life.
Spending too much time on the internet isn t the only problem that children can encounter. The content which children access on the internet can be harmful as well. There is no regulation of the content on the internet. Children can access information about pornography, racism, anarchy, and more. Many criminals have been noted to regularly use the internet to access harmful information, which can just as easily be viewed by children. Parents can t tell what information their children have been accessing, and there is no way to censor all vulgar material from their computer. Not only is it difficult to monitor what information children access on the internet, but whom they talk with as well. There are often stories in the news about people getting arrested for trying to meet with underage children whom they met on the internet. Even if a child has good intentions, they can always come across the wrong type of people, while parents are practically helpless.
Possibly one of the things that can be the most detrimental to a child s future is their loss of social interaction. Chatting over the internet can slowly begin to replace the important interaction with friends and family. Many children go straight to their room once the get home from school, and only come out to eat and use the restroom. Eventually the children grow apart from their friends because they would rather chat on the internet than go out on a Friday night. Even though going out on Friday nights may not be the best way for a child to spend their time, face to face interaction with other people is something essential for all children to be comfortable with. If a child loses these social skills because of the internet, it can be very harmful for their future. How will they expect to make a good impression during a job interview, if they aren t even comfortable socializing with friends? In some cases, children spend so much time on the internet, they don t even communicate with their family. Quality time with family is very important for a child s mental growth, and overall well being.
In conclusion, there are many obvious benefits to children using the internet, but one should carefully look at the hazards of children using the internet as well. If parents insist on having a computer with internet access in their homes, they should be aware of the potential dangers that come with it. A good way to help monitor what your child does on the internet is to have the computer in an area of the house where you can observe the child using it. There are many other ways to help keep children safe from the dangers of the internet, and parents should take a little time to learn about them before introducing their children to the new world of the internet. http://www.customessaymeister.com/customessays/Internet/10451.htm We learn more with the Internet, so we become smarter. While people tend to use technology as a crutch, it does not mean that they are any less smart. If one were to space out in class, he could rely on the Internet for a crash course on algebra. Otherwise, that same kid would've failed his test and not learned the material. If anything, the vast amount of information stored online can help people learn more. The Webs easy access helps us share ideas and concepts that would otherwise be unknown. As the Internet may reduce the amount of thinking we need to do, it doesn't take away our ability to think. The instant answers that Google spits out may make us lazy and impatient, but extra knowledge can only make us smarter - not any dumber.
Posted by: GoogleGoggler
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Children are sponges. Technology has evolved since the last generation. Children are encouraged to do internet research on their own using credible sources because they get a better understanding and detailed information on any given topic. When they understand the search tools and engines they will be able to gain knowledge on anything they want or need. Children today are fast evolving and are smarter than children of the same age in the last generation. I believe the internet is the cause of this.
Posted by: Anonymous
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The internet has everything they need to know.
Homework, Exam revision, tutoring, tutoring videos, educational videos, "how-to" videos, step-by-step instructions on things that we find difficult to accomplish. The internet, whether we want to believe it or not, has everything that children need to know in terms of education. These days, if children don't get something in class, they can look it up on google. There are also trust-worthy sites that help children learn things step-by-step to prepare them for tests. E.g Khanacademy.org, www.businessstudies.uk, or bbc.co.uk/schools being the most popular. Even at school, teachers recommend students to check out specific sites for fun activities, that they will enjoy as well as learn from. We may not want to accept the fact that children are becoming smarter because of the internet, because it shouldn't be that way perhaps. But its the absolute reality. Increased technology in a child's life isn't necessarily a good thing, but that's clearly not what this debate is about. Are children smart because of the internet? Yes, the majority of them are smarter.
Posted by: Nijal.T
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The information has always been out there.
The information has always been out there. It has always been up to the Parents to deliver the content in a way that enriches a child's life.
Has the parent set up a safe learning environment to find truthful facts or are they reading blogs full of opinions and misinformation?
How many children can do algebra on a sheet of paper vs. typing the equation in to google for the answer?
The internet is nothing more then a crutch for those who can not work out the answer for themselves now.
Posted by: bandista
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More information does not mean smarter. While the Internet does supply a great deal of information, that does not mean that the children that have access to that information are smarter because of it. There are too many opportunities to waste time and lose chances to learn for that information. With that said, some are and some are not.
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Internet breeds laziness.
I don't believe that the Internet in of itself has made children smarter. The Internet provides people with the ability to look up the collective knowledge of mankind, yet children are usually playing video games instead. Just because the tool exists, doesn't mean that people will use it. I think that it gives a lot of children that might not otherwise get the chance to learn certain subjects, free and easy access, but in itself can do nothing.
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http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-children-smarter-because-of-the-internet
1. Introduction
For good or ill, the internet is now very much part of children’s lifestyles today. Indeed, it is hardly possible to approach contemporary childhood – its possibilities and its risks – without understanding the degree to which information and communications technologies
(ICTs) are embedded in every aspect of young people’s lives. For policy makers, the fast pace of change in the technology sector represents an additional challenge and effective interventions to protect children as well as promote positive opportunities sometimes struggle to keep up an environment that continues to evolve rapidly. There is also a tension between some of the competing responses that children’s use of the internet evokes: whether children are viewed as ‘digital natives’ or as helpless victims of online threats, there is a difficult balancing act between promoting use of the internet as something positive and beneficial for young people’s futures, whilst seeking to minimize risks they may encounter in an environment that is difficult to regulate.
Internationally, the overall tendency has been to adopt a ‘light touch’ regulatory approach to the internet, in order to foster innovation and promote its benefits to all citizens. Children and young people, indeed, are often viewed as being in the vanguard of the digital era, effortlessly integrating new platforms and services into their everyday lives. ICTs have steadily transformed the educational environment, creating new opportunities for learning, new subject areas and skillsets. The digital economy is also of huge importance for future employment and prosperity, in
Ireland as elsewhere. Yet, the digital world is also one of hazards and protection of minors has been an important priority for policy makers and legislators since the internet evolved into a mass phenomenon.
Harnessing a variety of co- and self-regulatory initiatives to promote safer internet practices, as well as legislative harmonization and international cooperation to fight illegality online, internet safety is now a priority for governments, international agencies, child protection groups and educationalists.
How, in an Irish context, to balance these competing poles effectively – to ensure that benefits outweigh risks and that protection does not undermine the empowerment of children – is the subject of this paper.
Placing young people at the core of national digital strategy is, we argue, in Ireland’s national interest.
Ireland’s digital economy is worth some 3 per cent of
GDP though Ireland is playing catch up after years of under-investment.1 New skills areas and on-going growth in the ICT sector mean that digital youth engagement is of vital national importance. However, research shows that Irish youth lag behind their
European counterparts in terms of online opportunities and activities undertaken.2
The purpose of this paper, then, is to set out the case for prioritising digital opportunities for youth in Ireland.
Policy in relation to children and the internet, has to a great extent been dominated by a concern to ensure that children are protected and as safe as possible in an environment that was not designed for them but in which they now routinely spend much of their time.
Internet safety, then, represents one key dimension in how the policy world responds to children’s use of the internet. However, it is just as important to ensure that children have access to the best possible online opportunities. Accordingly, in the following we briefly review policy under five main headings:
a) Internet Safety
b) E-inclusion
c) Digital literacy and skills
d) Education and ICTs
e) Children’s rights in the online world
Based on the available evidence, Ireland has done well in the first of these areas with low levels of risk for a country with high internet penetration. However, more needs to be under each theme to realize the full potential of the digital era for children’s development and well-being. Importantly, more information is also needed about children’s use of internet technologies.
For something so integral to children’s lives – in education, in their social interactions, and participation in cultural life – we still know too little about children’s experiences of online opportunities and risks. The paper concludes, therefore, with recommendations on advancing research knowledge in this field and identifies digital opportunities and digital skills as areas in which policy intervention can assist in enabling children to realize their potential in the digital age.
Children using internet from age of three, study finds
Children spend twice as long online as their parents think they do and start using the internet at the average age of three, a study has found.
Many are viewing self-harm, violent pornography, animal cruelty and eating disorder websites and more than a quarter admit they pretend to be older to access certain sites.
They are spending so much time online that one in three now struggles with offline activities that require concentration such as reading a book, according to the report.
The survey, by parenting site Netmums.com, disclosed that parents are rarely aware of their children’s internet activity.
While three quarters believe their child spends less than an hour a day online, children admit that they are actually surfing the web for an average of two hours a day.
Although two thirds said they had had a negative experience online, only 22 per cent of parents realised this.
Dr Aric Sigman, a leading psychologist, said: “The problem with this generation is that we accept there should be limits on the consumption of many things, such as sunlight or sugar and salt, but screen time is not something that is thought of as consumption.
“It is important to impose boundaries, rules and limits.
“What parents often assume is a benign pastime is their main waking activity and the sheer amount of time that children spend at screens can lead to increased risk of physical disease as well as psychosocial issues.”
The survey, which is believed to be the first to involve both children and parents, found that one in seven under-16s are so addicted to the web that they spend four hours or more glued to the screen.
More than a third begin to feel “angry and grumpy” if they cannot get online whilst one in five expressed concerns that they spend more time in the virtual world than with real people.
While more than half said they had accidentally accessed inappropriate content online, one in 11 admitted looking for it deliberately. A quarter said they had accessed eating disorder sites and one in five had looked at self harming websites. More than one in ten admitted viewing suicide sites and child abuse images.
Almost one in five admitted that had “thought about” trying what they had seen online but 98 per cent of parents who knew their children had accessed inappropriate material had no idea they had been influenced by it.
One in 20 revealed that they had met up with a stranger they first met on the internet.
The rapid rise in the use of smart phones and computer tablets means that banning screen time has become the modern equivalent of “grounding” children, with three quarters of parents imposing limits on internet use.
However, one in eight children disclosed that they continued to access the web in secret or pestered their parents until they gave in and reversed the ban.
Almost 30 per cent of parents allow their children to access the internet without any restrictions or supervision, with one in eight letting toddlers aged two or under go online. Just one in seven wait until their child is at least ten before allowing them access to the internet.
Despite the findings, the report suggests that children are aware they are spending too much time online, with almost three quarters wanting their time limited to under two hours.
Overall, most parents remain heavily in favour of web use with over half supporting it for homework and 82 per cent stating that their child had developed “great computer skills” which will help their future job prospects.
More than a third said the web meant their children knew far more about they world than they did at the same age.
Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of Netmums, which questioned 825 children aged seven to 16 and 1,127 parents, said: "The web is an amazing invention and a vital part of our kids' lives, but technology is moving so fast, that it's impossible to predict the effect it will have on our kids.
"No past generation has ever had access to so much information so fast – and not all of it desirable – along with the use of dozens of different electronic gadgets.
"Some scientists have predicted large amounts of internet exposure may alter the way kids think and in many ways we are in the middle of a giant experiment with our children as the subject. We are raising a generation of technical geniuses – but at what cost?"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10029180/Children-using-internet-from-age-of-three-study-finds.html
Impact Of Internet On Children's Attitude And Behaviour
INTRODUCTION
We live in information age, where knowledge is power. Internet has come to stay and it is happening. Life styles are changing. Newspapers are available on the web. Cinema tickets can be booked on Internet by logging on to the relevant sites. Entertainment concepts are changing. One can watch movies, listen to songs just by connecting to these sites sitting at home. There are sites on every subject in the world.
POSITIVE SIDE
+f4Internet has its impact on Supply Chain management, and Customer Relationship management- where E-commerce is playing a big role by automating customer relationship management, like voice interactive systems where the complaints can be dealt with in no time. Banks are also changing their ways like introduction of home banking and electronic fund transfer, where funds are transferred without physically going to clearance houses. In the field of education- concepts are changing from computer based training to web based training, like e-gurukool, e-learning, on-line examinations etc., Then there is the virtual class room concept where the lecture is webcasted. Any doubts that arise can be clarified through the virtual classroom concept.
Channels are available on Internet on every thing and anything. Internet has channels on Jobs, Personal, Libraries, Travel, Art, computing, Lifestyle, Shopping, Music, People, Money, Games, Sports etc. It is amazing to know the amount of information that is available on the Internet, through which one can access the information in the best and most inexpensive ways. Anything in this world can be accessed through the Internet these days. Similarly E-mail has revolutionized the communication. Voice mail is where they record voice and the same is sent to the destination. Net-to-phone is where one can talk to anyone in the world at the cost of a local call.
New trends are prevailing on the contemporary business scene. Internet and networking techniques are redefining the business as a whole and plenty are on the anvil for those interested in using them for gaining superior advantage who are well-versed in technological and management aspects. E-Commerce is a forerunner in this regard.
NEGATIVE SIDE
There is no dispute about the positive role of the Internet. Similarly there also exists not merely a consensus but a growing concern about its harmful affects. However, positive affects do not stick so easily and negative affects do not leave us so readily. Therefore, it is useful and appropriate to focus on the harmful role of the Internet in distorting our Indian culture and in influencing particularly the school and college going children at their highly impressionable age.
Internets role in promoting vulgarity and in undermining our family values and traditions is particularly distressing. The abuse of this very powerful media leads us to question the absoluteness of certain liberal concepts like freedom and choice when it comes to viewing what one wants. When private interests come in to conflict with the larger issues of public morale and morality, there is a need for exercising freedom and choice with some restraint. If programme producers are unable to contain their commercial instincts, the public authorities and parents and elders must step in to collectively articulate their concerns and initiate actions to prevent its harmful affects.
SUGGESTIONS
• To lessen the effects, reduce the time spent viewing the television. Children should view only select programmes for a fixed number of hours. Parents should become friends with their children and spend more time with them.
• Cultivate habits including reading. Parents should kindle their children curiosity and encourage reading and read to them and narrate stories. Having pets and caring for them, wouldn't only engage children in an enjoyable way, but also inculcate kindness to animals.
• Encourage children to pursue outdoor activities and team games in natural settings.
• Parents should become good role models. Elders should take pains to teach children social skills and help them in communicating their problems fearlessly.
• Media viewing under parental guidance and proper regulation is the best way to prevent grave mishaps in children, arising from screen viewing.
CONCLUSION
The media now runs our society. It decides what people are interested in and how they behave. Because of the media children are less interested in reading and in education and more interested in killing brain cells while sitting on the couch watching trash. We as a parent need to turn our attention away from the TV and the computer and focus more on each other individuals, Reading books, going to parks, spending time with friends and family etc. Instead of giving children medication and sending them to more doctors and therapists, we should reduce the number of electronics that are running their everyday lives. People need contact with other people in order to lead a happy, healthy life. Basically it is the parents' responsibility to monitor what their children watch and how often they play video games and access the Internet. Next, the government should really regulate laws to reduce inappropriate TV, Internet or video game contents. There should be an access control device in any inappropriate TV or Internet content not only for children but also for adults.
Dr. GOMATHI VISWANATHAN
http://parental-control-software.topchoicereviews.com/impact-of-internet-on-childrens-attitude_77.html
Now that the Internet is increasingly within everyone's reach, children are more and more exposed, on line, to risks which their parents cannot always control: harassment, abuse, pornography, incitement to racism and suicide, as well as cyber-bullying. The last-named refers to bullying by persons of a violent disposition who go on-line with the intention of using the new information technologies to cause harm. This kind of bullying may range from the misuse of e-mail to the publication of videos showing attacks, often filmed on mobile phones.
Young people's private lives are also increasingly laid bare by the often personal information published in their blogs, on social networks, in chatrooms, and so on. At a very young age, web users face some complex issues: copyright on the Internet, image rights, protection of personal data and private life, and the risks inherent in the Internet’s new social forums.
In order to teach them how to react responsibly to any potentially harmful Internet content and conduct that they may encounter, the Council of Europe has devised an interactive game called Wild Web Woods. This game uses fairy tales with which they are familiar to guide them through a maze of potential dangers towards the fabulous "electronic city". Designed primarily for 7 to 10-year-olds, and available in 24 languages, it has been produced in the spirit of the "Building a Europe for and with children" programme. http://hub.coe.int/what-we-do/media-and-communication/children-and-the-internet How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children?
A few years ago, a parenting magazine asked me to write an article about the dangers that children face when they go online. As it turns out, I was the wrong author for the article they had in mind.
The editor was deeply disappointed by my initial draft. Its chief message was this: “Sure, there are dangers. But they’re hugely overhyped by the media. The tales of pedophiles luring children out of their homes are like plane crashes: they happen extremely rarely, but when they do, they make headlines everywhere. The Internet is just another facet of socialization for the new generation; as always, common sense and a level head are the best safeguards.”
My editor, however, was looking for something more sensational. He asked, for example, if I could dig up an opening anecdote about, say, an eight-year-old getting killed by a chat-room stalker. But after days of research—and yes, I actually looked at the Google results past the first page—I could not find a single example of a preteen getting abducted and murdered by an Internet predator.
So the editor sent me the contact information for several parents of young children with Internet horror stories, and suggested that I interview them. One woman, for example, told me that she became hysterical when her eight-year-old stumbled onto a pornographic photo. She told me that she literally dove for the computer, crashing over a chair, yanking out the power cord and then rushing her daughter outside.
You know what? I think that far more damage was done to that child by her mother’s reaction than by the dirty picture.
See, almost the same thing happened at our house. When my son was 7 years old, he was Googling “The Incredibles” on the computer that we keep in the kitchen. At some point, he pulled up a doctored picture of the Incredibles family, showing them naked.
“What…on… earth?” he said in surprise.
I walked over, saw what was going on, and closed the window. “Yeah, I know,” I told him. “Some people like pictures of naked people. The Internet is full of all kinds of things.” And life went on.
My thinking was this: a seven-year-old is so far from puberty, naked pictures don’t yet have any of the baggage that we adults associate with them. Sex has no meaning yet; the concept produces no emotional charge one way or another.
Today, not only is my son utterly unscarred by the event, I’m quite sure he has no memory of it whatsoever.
Now, I realize that not everybody shares my nonchalance. And again, it’s not hard to find scattered anecdotes about terrible things that happen online.
But if you live in terror of what the Internet will do to your children, I encourage you to watch this excellent hour long PBS “Frontline” documentary. (I learned about it in a recent column by Times media critic Virginia Heffernan).
It’s free, and it’s online in its entirety. The show surveys the current kids-online situation—thoroughly, open-mindedly and frankly.
Turns out I had it relatively easy writing about the dangers to children under age 12; this documentary focuses on teenagers, 90 percent of whom are online every single day. They are absolutely immersed in chat, Facebook, MySpace and the rest of the Web; it’s part of their ordinary social fabric to an extent that previous generations can’t even imagine.
The show carefully examines each danger of the Net. And as presented by the show, the sexual-predator thing is way, way overblown, just as I had suspected. Several interesting interview transcripts accompany the show online; the one with producer Rachel Dretzin goes like this:
“One of the biggest surprises in making this film was the discovery that the threat of online predators is misunderstood and overblown. The data shows that giving out personal information over the Internet makes absolutely no difference when it comes to a child’s vulnerability to predation.” (That one blew my mind, because every single Internet-safety Web site and pamphlet hammers repeatedly on this point: never, ever give out your personal information online.)
“Also, the vast majority of kids who do end up having contact with a stranger they meet over the Internet are seeking out that contact,” Ms. Dretzin goes on. “Most importantly, all the kids we met, without exception, told us the same thing: They would never dream of meeting someone in person they’d met online.”
Several teenagers interviewed in the story make it clear that only an idiot would be lured unwittingly into a relationship with an online sicko: “If someone asks me where I live, I’ll delete the ‘friend.’ I mean, why do you want to know where I live at?” says one girl.
Fearmongers often cite the statistic, from a 2005 study by the Crimes Against Children Research Center, that 1 in 7 children have received sexual propositions while online. But David Finkelhor, author of that report, notes that many of these propositions don’t come from Internet predators at all. “Considerable numbers of them are undoubtedly coming from other kids, or just people who are acting weird online,” he says.
“Most of the sexual solicitations, they’re not that big a deal,” says another interview subject, Danah Boyd of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. “Most of it is the 19-year-old saying to the 17-year old, ‘Hey, baby.’ Is that really the image that we come to when we think about sexual solicitations? No. We have found kids who engage in risky behavior online. The fact is, they’ve engaged in a lot more risky behavior offline.”
As my own children approach middle school, my own fears align with the documentary’s findings in another way: that cyber-bullying is a far more realistic threat. Kids online experiment with different personas, and can be a lot nastier in the anonymous atmosphere of the Internet than they would ever be in person (just like grown-ups). And their mockery can be far more painful when it’s public, permanent and written than if they were just muttered in passing in the hallway.
In any case, watch the show. You’ll learn that some fears are overplayed, others are underplayed, and above all, that the Internet plays a huge part in adolescence now. Pining for simpler times is a waste of time; like it or not, this particular genie is out of the bottle.+
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/assessing-the-dangers-of-the-internet-for-children/?_r=0
Studies Show Mix of Potential Benefits and Risks When Kids Go Online
May 1, 2006 -- The Internet may be a help or a hazard when kids go online, new research shows.
Some of those risks and benefits are highlighted in a special issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. Among the findings:
Message boards about self-injurious behavior (such as cutting) included social support and risky content.
Kids' age is a big factor in how well they understood the Internet.
Low-income kids got better grades and test scores in reading after being given home Internet access.
In online chat rooms, youths were less likely to curse or engage in sexual talk if the chat room had a monitor.
Sexual health information was a popular Internet topic for teens in the African nation of Ghana.
Self-Harm and Message Boards
Message boards about self-harm, such as cutting oneself, was the topic for Cornell University's Janis Whitlock, PhD, MPH, and colleagues. hitlock's team identified 400 message boards about self-harm and did an in-depth study of 10 of those message boards. They focused on sites that weren't highly moderated, in order to avoid censors.
The boards had between 70 and more than 6,600 members. When membership information was available, most members claimed to be young women in their teens and 20s.
Over two months, the researchers studied more than 3,200 postings on the message boards. Most of those messages -- more than one in four -- offered informal support, such as, "We're glad that you're here" or "Just try to relax and try to breathe deeply and slowly."
But 9% of the messages mentioned ways to conceal self-harm and its effects (such as scars) and nearly as many mentioned the "addictiveness" of self-harm.
Those message boards may have provided "essential social support for otherwise isolated adolescents," write Whitlock and colleagues.
However, the researchers also voiced concern that some content on the boards might reinforce or promote self-harm.
A larger, longer study would help, the researchers note. Meanwhile, they stress that "it is very important for adults to know something about what adolescents, particularly vulnerable adolescents, encounter in the virtual communities they inhabit."
Age Is Important
"Age matters" in how well kids understand the Internet, writes Zheng Yan, EdD.
Yan is an assistant professor at the University of Albany's School of Education. He studied 322 elementary and middle-school kids in New England.
The students answered questions about the Internet's technical and social complexity, including:
"What is the Internet?"
"If you could walk into the Internet, what would it look like?"
"What kinds of good things can happen to us when we go to web sites?"
"What kinds of bad things can happen to us when we use email?"
"Do you need to be careful when you go to the WWW?"
In terms of understanding the Internet, kids' age was more important than gender, history of Internet use, frequency of Internet use, and participation in informal classes, Yan found.
He suggests using highly restricted filtering programs and kid-oriented sites for very young kids, with less restrictive filters for older children. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20060501/pros-cons-for-kids-internet-use
Sexuality is also a lifelong process. Infants, children, teens, and adults are sexual beings. Just as it is important to enhance a child's physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, so it is important to lay foundations for a child's sexual growth. Adults have a responsibility to help young people understand and accept their evolving sexuality. Read on to learn more about human growth and development.
Parent-Child Communication: Promoting Sexually Healthy Youth
Infants & Toddlers—Ages 0 to 3
Preschoolers—Ages 4 to 5
Grade Schoolers—Ages 6 to 8
Preteens—Ages 9 to 12
Teens—Ages 13 to 17 Young
Adults—Ages 18 and Over
It's fun, but does it make you smarter?
Researchers find a relationship between children's Internet use and academic performance.
By Erika Packard
Monitor Staff
November 2007, Vol 38, No. 10
Print version: page 44
For most children and teenagers, using the Internet has joined watching television and talking on the phone in the repertoire of typical behavior. In fact, 87 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds are now online, according to a 2005 Pew Research Center report. That's a 24 percent increase over the previous four years, leading parents and policymakers to worry about the effect access to worlds of information--and misinformation--has on children. Psychologists are only beginning to answer that question, but a study led by Michigan State University psychologist Linda Jackson, PhD, showed that home Internet use improved standardized reading test scores. Other researchers have found that having the Internet at home encourages children to be more self-directed learners.
"We had the same question for television decades ago, but I think the Internet is more important than television because it's interactive," says Jackson. "It's 24/7 and it's ubiquitous in young people's lives."
The positive effects of Internet use appear especially pronounced among poor children, say researchers. Unfortunately, these children are also the least likely to have home computers, which some experts say may put them at a disadvantage.
"The interesting twist here is that the very children who are most likely to benefit from home Internet access are the ones least likely to have it," says Jackson. "It's a classic digital divide issue."
Point, click and read
In her research, published in a 2006 Developmental Psychology (Vol. 42, No. 3, pages 429-435) special section on Internet use, Jackson studied 140 urban children as part of HomeNetToo, a longitudinal field study designed to assess the effects of Internet use in low-income families. Most of the child participants were African American and around 13 years old; 75 percent lived in single-parent households with an average annual income of $15,000 or less. The children were also underperforming in school, scoring in the 30th percentile on standardized reading tests at the beginning of the study.
Jackson and her colleagues provided each family with a home computer and free Internet access. The researchers automatically and continuously recorded the children's Internet use, and participants completed periodic surveys and participated in home visits.
They found that children who used the Internet more had higher scores on standardized reading tests after six months, and higher grade point averages one year and 16 months after the start of the study than did children who used it less. More time spent reading, given the heavily text-based nature of Web pages, may account for the improvement. Jackson also suggests that there may be yet-undiscovered differences between reading online and reading offline that may make online reading particularly attractive to children and teenagers.
"What's unique about the Internet as compared with traditional ways of developing academic performance skills is that it's more of a fun environment," she says. "It's a play tool. You can learn without any pain. Beneficial academic outcomes may just be a coincidental effect of having a good time."
What's more, online reading may enhance skills that traditional book reading doesn't tap, says Donald Leu,PhD, the John and Maria Neag-Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology at the University of Connecticut and director of the New Literacies Research Lab. He's found no substantial association between online reading comprehension performance and performance on state reading assessments, as described in a 2005 report submitted to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory/Learning Point Associates (available online at www.newliteracies.uconn.edu/ncrel_files/FinalNCRELReport.pdf). That's because online reading takes different skills than traditional book reading, he says. Online reading relies heavily on information-location skills, including how to use search engines, as well as information-synthesis and critical evaluation skills.
"The studies that just look at learning fail to recognize that you have to have these online reading comprehension strategies in place before you can really learn very much with Internet information," says Leu.
Leu is looking for ways to improve adolescents' Internet reading comprehension through a three-year, U.S. Department of Education-funded research project, coled by reading education expert David Reinking, PhD, Eugene T. Moore Professor of Teacher Education at Clemson University.
About half of the children the team studies don't use search engines, Leu says, preferring to zuse an ineffective "dot com strategy." For example, if they are searching for information on the Iraq War, they will enter the URL "iraqwar.com." This often leads to ad-filled trap sites that provide incorrect or irrelevant information, says Leu. And, the 50 percent of children who do use search engines use a "click and look strategy" of opening each returned site instead of reading the search engine synopsis. If a site appears as the children imagine it should, they believe it's reliable, he says.
Leu and colleagues asked 50 top reading seventh-graders from school districts in rural South Carolina and urban Connecticut to assess the reliability of a slickly designed Web site on the mythical "endangered Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus." Though the site is a known hoax, all but one child claimed it was scientifically valid. And even after the researchers informed the participants that the site was a joke, about half of the children were adamant that it was indeed truthful, says Leu.
Self-directed learners
To help children winnow the tree octopus sites from legitimate information, they must develop online reading comprehension skills. These skills are particularly crucial because other researchers have found that children go online to clarify what they're being taught in school.
"Instead of waiting for a tutor or someone to help them, they are very proactive in seeking help for themselves," says Kallen Tsikalas, director of research and learning services for Computers for Youth (CFY), a national educational nonprofit organization.
Home Internet use during the middleschool years appears to empower students and reengage them in learning at an age when their academic achievement traditionally drops, adds Tsikalas.
Indeed, 70 percent of students in CFY's program consistently say that having a home computer helps them become more curious and feel more confident, and nearly two-thirds of students report working harder in school because they have a home computer, the organization reports.
Though researchers have found encouraging evidence that Internet use can help children stay interested in school and develop reading skills, it's not an easy area to study, say experts.
"A big challenge to researchers here is that we are dealing with a major generational gap--we are still struggling to catch up with evolving technology and how young people are using it," says Elisheva Gross, PhD, of the Children's Digital Media Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
The publication lag of scholarly research is also at odds with a technology that's changing and expanding by the day.
"Especially when you talk about books published on this topic, they are historical documents at this point," says Gross.
Is America lagging?
Although the challenges of studying Internet use abound, Leu argues that America needs to catch up with other countries that are harnessing the Internet for educational purposes. In Finland, for example, teachers take five weeks of paid leave to complete professional development training on teaching online reading comprehension and Internet-use skills. In Japan, the government provides 98 percent of its households with broadband access for only $22 a month.
"The government knows that kids read more out of school than they do in school, and they want to make certain that kids are reading online when they are at home," says Leu. "Most developed nations...know their kids will have to compete in a global information environment and they are trying to prepare them for that."
By contrast, America's "report card," the National Assessment of Educational Progress, just defined its framework for the 2009-19 assessment and chose not to include a measure of online reading skills.
"This is supposed to be the gold standard of our performance on reading, and until 2019 we are not going to have a handle on how our kids are doing on the most important information resource we have available," says Leu. http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov07/itsfun.aspx Children and the Internet
Many children nowadays use, or at least have access to the internet. But most people are blinded by all the benefits of the internet, and fail to notice any of the problems that can come from overuse. Since the internet is a new technology, not many studies have been done to determine how beneficial or detrimental it can be to children. Although the internet may have many benefits to children, it can also be very harmful to them.
One of the most obvious problems with children using the internet is the chance of getting addicted. Internet addiction is a serious thing, but hasn t drawn much attention due to the fact that it is a newer problem in society. Children that have grown up using computers will naturally be more susceptible to getting hooked on the internet. Many children spend more time on the computer than they spend watching television. Most of the time children spend on the computer can be attributed to the internet. This computer overuse results in less time for children to study, do homework, read, exercise, or participate in any out of school organizations. Such a pattern will eventually affect the child s grades, health, and social life.
Spending too much time on the internet isn t the only problem that children can encounter. The content which children access on the internet can be harmful as well. There is no regulation of the content on the internet. Children can access information about pornography, racism, anarchy, and more. Many criminals have been noted to regularly use the internet to access harmful information, which can just as easily be viewed by children. Parents can t tell what information their children have been accessing, and there is no way to censor all vulgar material from their computer. Not only is it difficult to monitor what information children access on the internet, but whom they talk with as well. There are often stories in the news about people getting arrested for trying to meet with underage children whom they met on the internet. Even if a child has good intentions, they can always come across the wrong type of people, while parents are practically helpless.
Possibly one of the things that can be the most detrimental to a child s future is their loss of social interaction. Chatting over the internet can slowly begin to replace the important interaction with friends and family. Many children go straight to their room once the get home from school, and only come out to eat and use the restroom. Eventually the children grow apart from their friends because they would rather chat on the internet than go out on a Friday night. Even though going out on Friday nights may not be the best way for a child to spend their time, face to face interaction with other people is something essential for all children to be comfortable with. If a child loses these social skills because of the internet, it can be very harmful for their future. How will they expect to make a good impression during a job interview, if they aren t even comfortable socializing with friends? In some cases, children spend so much time on the internet, they don t even communicate with their family. Quality time with family is very important for a child s mental growth, and overall well being.
In conclusion, there are many obvious benefits to children using the internet, but one should carefully look at the hazards of children using the internet as well. If parents insist on having a computer with internet access in their homes, they should be aware of the potential dangers that come with it. A good way to help monitor what your child does on the internet is to have the computer in an area of the house where you can observe the child using it. There are many other ways to help keep children safe from the dangers of the internet, and parents should take a little time to learn about them before introducing their children to the new world of the internet. http://www.customessaymeister.com/customessays/Internet/10451.htm We learn more with the Internet, so we become smarter. While people tend to use technology as a crutch, it does not mean that they are any less smart. If one were to space out in class, he could rely on the Internet for a crash course on algebra. Otherwise, that same kid would've failed his test and not learned the material. If anything, the vast amount of information stored online can help people learn more. The Webs easy access helps us share ideas and concepts that would otherwise be unknown. As the Internet may reduce the amount of thinking we need to do, it doesn't take away our ability to think. The instant answers that Google spits out may make us lazy and impatient, but extra knowledge can only make us smarter - not any dumber.
Posted by: GoogleGoggler
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Children are sponges. Technology has evolved since the last generation. Children are encouraged to do internet research on their own using credible sources because they get a better understanding and detailed information on any given topic. When they understand the search tools and engines they will be able to gain knowledge on anything they want or need. Children today are fast evolving and are smarter than children of the same age in the last generation. I believe the internet is the cause of this.
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The internet has everything they need to know.
Homework, Exam revision, tutoring, tutoring videos, educational videos, "how-to" videos, step-by-step instructions on things that we find difficult to accomplish. The internet, whether we want to believe it or not, has everything that children need to know in terms of education. These days, if children don't get something in class, they can look it up on google. There are also trust-worthy sites that help children learn things step-by-step to prepare them for tests. E.g Khanacademy.org, www.businessstudies.uk, or bbc.co.uk/schools being the most popular. Even at school, teachers recommend students to check out specific sites for fun activities, that they will enjoy as well as learn from. We may not want to accept the fact that children are becoming smarter because of the internet, because it shouldn't be that way perhaps. But its the absolute reality. Increased technology in a child's life isn't necessarily a good thing, but that's clearly not what this debate is about. Are children smart because of the internet? Yes, the majority of them are smarter.
Posted by: Nijal.T
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The information has always been out there.
The information has always been out there. It has always been up to the Parents to deliver the content in a way that enriches a child's life.
Has the parent set up a safe learning environment to find truthful facts or are they reading blogs full of opinions and misinformation?
How many children can do algebra on a sheet of paper vs. typing the equation in to google for the answer?
The internet is nothing more then a crutch for those who can not work out the answer for themselves now.
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More information does not mean smarter. While the Internet does supply a great deal of information, that does not mean that the children that have access to that information are smarter because of it. There are too many opportunities to waste time and lose chances to learn for that information. With that said, some are and some are not.
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Internet breeds laziness.
I don't believe that the Internet in of itself has made children smarter. The Internet provides people with the ability to look up the collective knowledge of mankind, yet children are usually playing video games instead. Just because the tool exists, doesn't mean that people will use it. I think that it gives a lot of children that might not otherwise get the chance to learn certain subjects, free and easy access, but in itself can do nothing.
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http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-children-smarter-because-of-the-internet
1. Introduction
For good or ill, the internet is now very much part of children’s lifestyles today. Indeed, it is hardly possible to approach contemporary childhood – its possibilities and its risks – without understanding the degree to which information and communications technologies
(ICTs) are embedded in every aspect of young people’s lives. For policy makers, the fast pace of change in the technology sector represents an additional challenge and effective interventions to protect children as well as promote positive opportunities sometimes struggle to keep up an environment that continues to evolve rapidly. There is also a tension between some of the competing responses that children’s use of the internet evokes: whether children are viewed as ‘digital natives’ or as helpless victims of online threats, there is a difficult balancing act between promoting use of the internet as something positive and beneficial for young people’s futures, whilst seeking to minimize risks they may encounter in an environment that is difficult to regulate.
Internationally, the overall tendency has been to adopt a ‘light touch’ regulatory approach to the internet, in order to foster innovation and promote its benefits to all citizens. Children and young people, indeed, are often viewed as being in the vanguard of the digital era, effortlessly integrating new platforms and services into their everyday lives. ICTs have steadily transformed the educational environment, creating new opportunities for learning, new subject areas and skillsets. The digital economy is also of huge importance for future employment and prosperity, in
Ireland as elsewhere. Yet, the digital world is also one of hazards and protection of minors has been an important priority for policy makers and legislators since the internet evolved into a mass phenomenon.
Harnessing a variety of co- and self-regulatory initiatives to promote safer internet practices, as well as legislative harmonization and international cooperation to fight illegality online, internet safety is now a priority for governments, international agencies, child protection groups and educationalists.
How, in an Irish context, to balance these competing poles effectively – to ensure that benefits outweigh risks and that protection does not undermine the empowerment of children – is the subject of this paper.
Placing young people at the core of national digital strategy is, we argue, in Ireland’s national interest.
Ireland’s digital economy is worth some 3 per cent of
GDP though Ireland is playing catch up after years of under-investment.1 New skills areas and on-going growth in the ICT sector mean that digital youth engagement is of vital national importance. However, research shows that Irish youth lag behind their
European counterparts in terms of online opportunities and activities undertaken.2
The purpose of this paper, then, is to set out the case for prioritising digital opportunities for youth in Ireland.
Policy in relation to children and the internet, has to a great extent been dominated by a concern to ensure that children are protected and as safe as possible in an environment that was not designed for them but in which they now routinely spend much of their time.
Internet safety, then, represents one key dimension in how the policy world responds to children’s use of the internet. However, it is just as important to ensure that children have access to the best possible online opportunities. Accordingly, in the following we briefly review policy under five main headings:
a) Internet Safety
b) E-inclusion
c) Digital literacy and skills
d) Education and ICTs
e) Children’s rights in the online world
Based on the available evidence, Ireland has done well in the first of these areas with low levels of risk for a country with high internet penetration. However, more needs to be under each theme to realize the full potential of the digital era for children’s development and well-being. Importantly, more information is also needed about children’s use of internet technologies.
For something so integral to children’s lives – in education, in their social interactions, and participation in cultural life – we still know too little about children’s experiences of online opportunities and risks. The paper concludes, therefore, with recommendations on advancing research knowledge in this field and identifies digital opportunities and digital skills as areas in which policy intervention can assist in enabling children to realize their potential in the digital age.
Children using internet from age of three, study finds
Children spend twice as long online as their parents think they do and start using the internet at the average age of three, a study has found.
Many are viewing self-harm, violent pornography, animal cruelty and eating disorder websites and more than a quarter admit they pretend to be older to access certain sites.
They are spending so much time online that one in three now struggles with offline activities that require concentration such as reading a book, according to the report.
The survey, by parenting site Netmums.com, disclosed that parents are rarely aware of their children’s internet activity.
While three quarters believe their child spends less than an hour a day online, children admit that they are actually surfing the web for an average of two hours a day.
Although two thirds said they had had a negative experience online, only 22 per cent of parents realised this.
Dr Aric Sigman, a leading psychologist, said: “The problem with this generation is that we accept there should be limits on the consumption of many things, such as sunlight or sugar and salt, but screen time is not something that is thought of as consumption.
“It is important to impose boundaries, rules and limits.
“What parents often assume is a benign pastime is their main waking activity and the sheer amount of time that children spend at screens can lead to increased risk of physical disease as well as psychosocial issues.”
The survey, which is believed to be the first to involve both children and parents, found that one in seven under-16s are so addicted to the web that they spend four hours or more glued to the screen.
More than a third begin to feel “angry and grumpy” if they cannot get online whilst one in five expressed concerns that they spend more time in the virtual world than with real people.
While more than half said they had accidentally accessed inappropriate content online, one in 11 admitted looking for it deliberately. A quarter said they had accessed eating disorder sites and one in five had looked at self harming websites. More than one in ten admitted viewing suicide sites and child abuse images.
Almost one in five admitted that had “thought about” trying what they had seen online but 98 per cent of parents who knew their children had accessed inappropriate material had no idea they had been influenced by it.
One in 20 revealed that they had met up with a stranger they first met on the internet.
The rapid rise in the use of smart phones and computer tablets means that banning screen time has become the modern equivalent of “grounding” children, with three quarters of parents imposing limits on internet use.
However, one in eight children disclosed that they continued to access the web in secret or pestered their parents until they gave in and reversed the ban.
Almost 30 per cent of parents allow their children to access the internet without any restrictions or supervision, with one in eight letting toddlers aged two or under go online. Just one in seven wait until their child is at least ten before allowing them access to the internet.
Despite the findings, the report suggests that children are aware they are spending too much time online, with almost three quarters wanting their time limited to under two hours.
Overall, most parents remain heavily in favour of web use with over half supporting it for homework and 82 per cent stating that their child had developed “great computer skills” which will help their future job prospects.
More than a third said the web meant their children knew far more about they world than they did at the same age.
Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of Netmums, which questioned 825 children aged seven to 16 and 1,127 parents, said: "The web is an amazing invention and a vital part of our kids' lives, but technology is moving so fast, that it's impossible to predict the effect it will have on our kids.
"No past generation has ever had access to so much information so fast – and not all of it desirable – along with the use of dozens of different electronic gadgets.
"Some scientists have predicted large amounts of internet exposure may alter the way kids think and in many ways we are in the middle of a giant experiment with our children as the subject. We are raising a generation of technical geniuses – but at what cost?"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10029180/Children-using-internet-from-age-of-three-study-finds.html
Impact Of Internet On Children's Attitude And Behaviour
INTRODUCTION
We live in information age, where knowledge is power. Internet has come to stay and it is happening. Life styles are changing. Newspapers are available on the web. Cinema tickets can be booked on Internet by logging on to the relevant sites. Entertainment concepts are changing. One can watch movies, listen to songs just by connecting to these sites sitting at home. There are sites on every subject in the world.
POSITIVE SIDE
+f4Internet has its impact on Supply Chain management, and Customer Relationship management- where E-commerce is playing a big role by automating customer relationship management, like voice interactive systems where the complaints can be dealt with in no time. Banks are also changing their ways like introduction of home banking and electronic fund transfer, where funds are transferred without physically going to clearance houses. In the field of education- concepts are changing from computer based training to web based training, like e-gurukool, e-learning, on-line examinations etc., Then there is the virtual class room concept where the lecture is webcasted. Any doubts that arise can be clarified through the virtual classroom concept.
Channels are available on Internet on every thing and anything. Internet has channels on Jobs, Personal, Libraries, Travel, Art, computing, Lifestyle, Shopping, Music, People, Money, Games, Sports etc. It is amazing to know the amount of information that is available on the Internet, through which one can access the information in the best and most inexpensive ways. Anything in this world can be accessed through the Internet these days. Similarly E-mail has revolutionized the communication. Voice mail is where they record voice and the same is sent to the destination. Net-to-phone is where one can talk to anyone in the world at the cost of a local call.
New trends are prevailing on the contemporary business scene. Internet and networking techniques are redefining the business as a whole and plenty are on the anvil for those interested in using them for gaining superior advantage who are well-versed in technological and management aspects. E-Commerce is a forerunner in this regard.
NEGATIVE SIDE
There is no dispute about the positive role of the Internet. Similarly there also exists not merely a consensus but a growing concern about its harmful affects. However, positive affects do not stick so easily and negative affects do not leave us so readily. Therefore, it is useful and appropriate to focus on the harmful role of the Internet in distorting our Indian culture and in influencing particularly the school and college going children at their highly impressionable age.
Internets role in promoting vulgarity and in undermining our family values and traditions is particularly distressing. The abuse of this very powerful media leads us to question the absoluteness of certain liberal concepts like freedom and choice when it comes to viewing what one wants. When private interests come in to conflict with the larger issues of public morale and morality, there is a need for exercising freedom and choice with some restraint. If programme producers are unable to contain their commercial instincts, the public authorities and parents and elders must step in to collectively articulate their concerns and initiate actions to prevent its harmful affects.
SUGGESTIONS
• To lessen the effects, reduce the time spent viewing the television. Children should view only select programmes for a fixed number of hours. Parents should become friends with their children and spend more time with them.
• Cultivate habits including reading. Parents should kindle their children curiosity and encourage reading and read to them and narrate stories. Having pets and caring for them, wouldn't only engage children in an enjoyable way, but also inculcate kindness to animals.
• Encourage children to pursue outdoor activities and team games in natural settings.
• Parents should become good role models. Elders should take pains to teach children social skills and help them in communicating their problems fearlessly.
• Media viewing under parental guidance and proper regulation is the best way to prevent grave mishaps in children, arising from screen viewing.
CONCLUSION
The media now runs our society. It decides what people are interested in and how they behave. Because of the media children are less interested in reading and in education and more interested in killing brain cells while sitting on the couch watching trash. We as a parent need to turn our attention away from the TV and the computer and focus more on each other individuals, Reading books, going to parks, spending time with friends and family etc. Instead of giving children medication and sending them to more doctors and therapists, we should reduce the number of electronics that are running their everyday lives. People need contact with other people in order to lead a happy, healthy life. Basically it is the parents' responsibility to monitor what their children watch and how often they play video games and access the Internet. Next, the government should really regulate laws to reduce inappropriate TV, Internet or video game contents. There should be an access control device in any inappropriate TV or Internet content not only for children but also for adults.
Dr. GOMATHI VISWANATHAN
http://parental-control-software.topchoicereviews.com/impact-of-internet-on-childrens-attitude_77.html
Now that the Internet is increasingly within everyone's reach, children are more and more exposed, on line, to risks which their parents cannot always control: harassment, abuse, pornography, incitement to racism and suicide, as well as cyber-bullying. The last-named refers to bullying by persons of a violent disposition who go on-line with the intention of using the new information technologies to cause harm. This kind of bullying may range from the misuse of e-mail to the publication of videos showing attacks, often filmed on mobile phones.
Young people's private lives are also increasingly laid bare by the often personal information published in their blogs, on social networks, in chatrooms, and so on. At a very young age, web users face some complex issues: copyright on the Internet, image rights, protection of personal data and private life, and the risks inherent in the Internet’s new social forums.
In order to teach them how to react responsibly to any potentially harmful Internet content and conduct that they may encounter, the Council of Europe has devised an interactive game called Wild Web Woods. This game uses fairy tales with which they are familiar to guide them through a maze of potential dangers towards the fabulous "electronic city". Designed primarily for 7 to 10-year-olds, and available in 24 languages, it has been produced in the spirit of the "Building a Europe for and with children" programme. http://hub.coe.int/what-we-do/media-and-communication/children-and-the-internet How Dangerous Is the Internet for Children?
A few years ago, a parenting magazine asked me to write an article about the dangers that children face when they go online. As it turns out, I was the wrong author for the article they had in mind.
The editor was deeply disappointed by my initial draft. Its chief message was this: “Sure, there are dangers. But they’re hugely overhyped by the media. The tales of pedophiles luring children out of their homes are like plane crashes: they happen extremely rarely, but when they do, they make headlines everywhere. The Internet is just another facet of socialization for the new generation; as always, common sense and a level head are the best safeguards.”
My editor, however, was looking for something more sensational. He asked, for example, if I could dig up an opening anecdote about, say, an eight-year-old getting killed by a chat-room stalker. But after days of research—and yes, I actually looked at the Google results past the first page—I could not find a single example of a preteen getting abducted and murdered by an Internet predator.
So the editor sent me the contact information for several parents of young children with Internet horror stories, and suggested that I interview them. One woman, for example, told me that she became hysterical when her eight-year-old stumbled onto a pornographic photo. She told me that she literally dove for the computer, crashing over a chair, yanking out the power cord and then rushing her daughter outside.
You know what? I think that far more damage was done to that child by her mother’s reaction than by the dirty picture.
See, almost the same thing happened at our house. When my son was 7 years old, he was Googling “The Incredibles” on the computer that we keep in the kitchen. At some point, he pulled up a doctored picture of the Incredibles family, showing them naked.
“What…on… earth?” he said in surprise.
I walked over, saw what was going on, and closed the window. “Yeah, I know,” I told him. “Some people like pictures of naked people. The Internet is full of all kinds of things.” And life went on.
My thinking was this: a seven-year-old is so far from puberty, naked pictures don’t yet have any of the baggage that we adults associate with them. Sex has no meaning yet; the concept produces no emotional charge one way or another.
Today, not only is my son utterly unscarred by the event, I’m quite sure he has no memory of it whatsoever.
Now, I realize that not everybody shares my nonchalance. And again, it’s not hard to find scattered anecdotes about terrible things that happen online.
But if you live in terror of what the Internet will do to your children, I encourage you to watch this excellent hour long PBS “Frontline” documentary. (I learned about it in a recent column by Times media critic Virginia Heffernan).
It’s free, and it’s online in its entirety. The show surveys the current kids-online situation—thoroughly, open-mindedly and frankly.
Turns out I had it relatively easy writing about the dangers to children under age 12; this documentary focuses on teenagers, 90 percent of whom are online every single day. They are absolutely immersed in chat, Facebook, MySpace and the rest of the Web; it’s part of their ordinary social fabric to an extent that previous generations can’t even imagine.
The show carefully examines each danger of the Net. And as presented by the show, the sexual-predator thing is way, way overblown, just as I had suspected. Several interesting interview transcripts accompany the show online; the one with producer Rachel Dretzin goes like this:
“One of the biggest surprises in making this film was the discovery that the threat of online predators is misunderstood and overblown. The data shows that giving out personal information over the Internet makes absolutely no difference when it comes to a child’s vulnerability to predation.” (That one blew my mind, because every single Internet-safety Web site and pamphlet hammers repeatedly on this point: never, ever give out your personal information online.)
“Also, the vast majority of kids who do end up having contact with a stranger they meet over the Internet are seeking out that contact,” Ms. Dretzin goes on. “Most importantly, all the kids we met, without exception, told us the same thing: They would never dream of meeting someone in person they’d met online.”
Several teenagers interviewed in the story make it clear that only an idiot would be lured unwittingly into a relationship with an online sicko: “If someone asks me where I live, I’ll delete the ‘friend.’ I mean, why do you want to know where I live at?” says one girl.
Fearmongers often cite the statistic, from a 2005 study by the Crimes Against Children Research Center, that 1 in 7 children have received sexual propositions while online. But David Finkelhor, author of that report, notes that many of these propositions don’t come from Internet predators at all. “Considerable numbers of them are undoubtedly coming from other kids, or just people who are acting weird online,” he says.
“Most of the sexual solicitations, they’re not that big a deal,” says another interview subject, Danah Boyd of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society. “Most of it is the 19-year-old saying to the 17-year old, ‘Hey, baby.’ Is that really the image that we come to when we think about sexual solicitations? No. We have found kids who engage in risky behavior online. The fact is, they’ve engaged in a lot more risky behavior offline.”
As my own children approach middle school, my own fears align with the documentary’s findings in another way: that cyber-bullying is a far more realistic threat. Kids online experiment with different personas, and can be a lot nastier in the anonymous atmosphere of the Internet than they would ever be in person (just like grown-ups). And their mockery can be far more painful when it’s public, permanent and written than if they were just muttered in passing in the hallway.
In any case, watch the show. You’ll learn that some fears are overplayed, others are underplayed, and above all, that the Internet plays a huge part in adolescence now. Pining for simpler times is a waste of time; like it or not, this particular genie is out of the bottle.+
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/assessing-the-dangers-of-the-internet-for-children/?_r=0
Studies Show Mix of Potential Benefits and Risks When Kids Go Online
May 1, 2006 -- The Internet may be a help or a hazard when kids go online, new research shows.
Some of those risks and benefits are highlighted in a special issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. Among the findings:
Message boards about self-injurious behavior (such as cutting) included social support and risky content.
Kids' age is a big factor in how well they understood the Internet.
Low-income kids got better grades and test scores in reading after being given home Internet access.
In online chat rooms, youths were less likely to curse or engage in sexual talk if the chat room had a monitor.
Sexual health information was a popular Internet topic for teens in the African nation of Ghana.
Self-Harm and Message Boards
Message boards about self-harm, such as cutting oneself, was the topic for Cornell University's Janis Whitlock, PhD, MPH, and colleagues. hitlock's team identified 400 message boards about self-harm and did an in-depth study of 10 of those message boards. They focused on sites that weren't highly moderated, in order to avoid censors.
The boards had between 70 and more than 6,600 members. When membership information was available, most members claimed to be young women in their teens and 20s.
Over two months, the researchers studied more than 3,200 postings on the message boards. Most of those messages -- more than one in four -- offered informal support, such as, "We're glad that you're here" or "Just try to relax and try to breathe deeply and slowly."
But 9% of the messages mentioned ways to conceal self-harm and its effects (such as scars) and nearly as many mentioned the "addictiveness" of self-harm.
Those message boards may have provided "essential social support for otherwise isolated adolescents," write Whitlock and colleagues.
However, the researchers also voiced concern that some content on the boards might reinforce or promote self-harm.
A larger, longer study would help, the researchers note. Meanwhile, they stress that "it is very important for adults to know something about what adolescents, particularly vulnerable adolescents, encounter in the virtual communities they inhabit."
Age Is Important
"Age matters" in how well kids understand the Internet, writes Zheng Yan, EdD.
Yan is an assistant professor at the University of Albany's School of Education. He studied 322 elementary and middle-school kids in New England.
The students answered questions about the Internet's technical and social complexity, including:
"What is the Internet?"
"If you could walk into the Internet, what would it look like?"
"What kinds of good things can happen to us when we go to web sites?"
"What kinds of bad things can happen to us when we use email?"
"Do you need to be careful when you go to the WWW?"
In terms of understanding the Internet, kids' age was more important than gender, history of Internet use, frequency of Internet use, and participation in informal classes, Yan found.
He suggests using highly restricted filtering programs and kid-oriented sites for very young kids, with less restrictive filters for older children. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20060501/pros-cons-for-kids-internet-use
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