THE INTERNET & ADOLESCENTS: USAGE PATTERNS AND IMPLICATIONS

 

 

The Internet is doubtless a pervasive tool both in and out of the home, with adolescents using online sources for academic, social and recreational purposes.What patterns emerge as they access and utilize the World Wide Web, and how do factors such as gender, class, mental health, language facility and socioeconomic status determine their engagement, their levels or confidence or potential mastery of technology?What are the implications for services as the classroom, the library and the world beyond becomes increasingly web dependent? How can we keep all teens wired and current, with the best visual and technological literacy information available to enhance their skills and maximize the benefits of their own unique engagement with the Web?

An overview includes a critical yet essential look at some of the research on this issue and its relevance to the challenges of todayÌs young adult librarian, who must deal with an extraordinarily diverse teen population.

J. S. Watson ("Students and the World Wide Web") follows a sampling of eighth graders to ascertain their "familiarity, openness and independence regarding their use of the Internet", examining their comfort level and usage patterns, then comparing this data with a followup study of the same group completed two and half years later. Watson describes her most striking finding: students continued to have distinctly differing perceptions of their own competence, confidence and comfort when using the Web for personal use as opposed to academic or research purposes.

All the students embraced e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, and came to "express ease and authority in their discussion of personal use--these users became more expert because of their regular access and assessment of sites in which they are knowledgeable" (Watson, 2001). On the contrary, none were comfortable using the Internet to perform research or complete school assignments, citing lack of visual literacy training, and a perception that the information on the Web is suspect, not easily validated, and poorly organized. One student stated, "It's more self-aggrandizing junk out there than anything else÷.academically, the plain old Internet is pretty useless." (Watson, 2001). Watson suggests that we use the students' mastery and comfort with the Internet related to their personal use--their ability to assess sites of personal interest and access information about hobbies, for example--as a jumping point into practicing the kinds of problem-solving and higher level critical skills necessary for academic research and more sophisticated web searches. She adds that collaboration between media specialists and teachers is crucial in training students in visual literacy, helping to bridge the gap between personal Internet skills and academic confidence.

Further usage patterns are explored in "Middle School Students' Technology Practices and Preferences: Re-Examining Gender Differences" (Miller, Schweingruber, & Brandenburg, 2001), Miller and her colleagues set out to reexamine gender differences among middle schoolers and their use of technology, computers and the Internet, asking whether a gender divide exists, and whether there is substantial variation in attitudes, practices, competence and perception of their own mastery of electronic tools.

The researchers distributed a questionnaire to 568 Houston area middle school students over a seven-month period. The sampling included public, private, suburban and inner-city school districts to insure a broad socioeconomic spectrum. Analysis of results indicated few differences between the genders in reporting on the questionnaire, though boys rated their perceived expertise slightly higher. Boys reported higher use (4.24 times per week) of computer than girls (3.69 times per week) but both reported that the most important activity for home computer use was 'playing games.' Girls preferred card and arcade computer games (47% to boys 15%) and more knowledge based, quiz sites with potentially creative projects, while boys preferred skill/simulation games (34% to 18% girls).

The study concluded that not only do "males and females report similar time spent on the computer and almost identical uses of the technology in the school settings," but "the patterns of computer use and the purposes of use are remarkable similar for males and females" (Miller et al., 2001). One implication for these findings is the dominance of computer games for both genders, and how educators might exploit games for academic benefit. The authors suggest that we need attend to "the creation of sufficient quantity and quality of digital material to attract and retain adolescents' interest in an unsupervised environment" (Miller et al., 2001). Similarly, we might be aware that some of the gender 'divide' may be more of a myth than reality among adolescents. While content preferences may differ, we may do well to rethink assumptions that 'girls donÌt play games' or 'don't like technology'.

Guy Merchant ("Teenagers in Cyberspace: An Investigation of Language Use and Language Change") further explores the usage patterns of adolescent girls in Internet chat rooms. He argues that rather than viewing teen chat room activity as something frivolous, we may recognize that adolescents "are in the vanguard of these [linguistic] processes as they fluently exploit the possibilities of digital technology, radically changing the face of literacy". He suggests that teens are developing "sophisticated and marketable skills" by combining web-savvy, graphics and technological creativity, to forge new communication paths.

Merchant follows six middle class teenage girls in northern England via a series of interviews and observation of their interactions online. Of the skills observed, Merchant emphasizes a linguistic fluency which allows them to rapidly adapt to the use of symbols and abbreviations, the exchange of links, graphics, photos and other attachments, and explore new kinds of 'written conversation" which the author suggests could have implications for future participation in "computer conferencing" in the workforce.

Merchant, as in other studies, corroborates a significant level of comfort and confidence by these girls with the technology. One might question whether any kind of study has been done with boys and chat rooms to see if there is any difference in the kind of verbal facility recognized here. Merchant concludes significantly that "we might ask whether these new electronic forms are really dangerously addictive and corrupting, or whether they are innovations which open new vistas of possibility" (Merchant, 2001). There will always be naysayers to innovation, yet innovation produces new kinds of competence and skills. The questions, however, might then focus on what kinds of skills these are and in what ways are they valuable? Can we as educators harness teen enthusiasm for certain aspects of the Internet, chat rooms, e.g., into creating fruitful academic curricula?

Usage patterns and mental health are explored in "Internet and Well-Being in Adolescence" (Gross, Juvonen, & Gable, 2002). Researchers counter the notion, supported by prior research and a major study, that the Internet has had largely adverse psychological effects on teens. The authors propose to explore the social interactions themselves in-depth to further examine the impact of Internet use on mental health. They assert that "close peer relationships contributed positively to adolescent self-esteem and well-being" but that "Internet use could undermine or foster well-being, depending on whether it supplants--or expands opportunities for meaningful, daily contact with close peers" (Gross et al., 2002).

Forty-nine boys and eighty-one public school seventh grade girls participated by completing three reports over three consecutive days. In addition, demographic data of the participants, their home Internet use and further psychological data were collected. Students were asked to initially rank their typical afterschool activity, their feelings of loneliness in school, their social activity, number of friends and mood according to the Child Depression Inventory. Additional survey questions for subsequent days logged daily afterschool activity, characteristics of online communications, loneliness, social anxiety and subjective well-being.

Seventy percent of the respondents indicated that they had gone on-line at least once over the past three days, but spend less time on average than any of the other activities (sports, television, etc.) in the survey. Both genders reported similar usage patterns and purposes relevant to the Internet but "youth reporting fewer close friends in school were significantly more likely to report IMing to avoid 'being alone'" (Gross et al., 2002).

The authors conclude that while online activity does not have any kind of monopoly on afterschool hours, youths use this communication predominantly for 'companionship', as the "closeness of participants' relationships with IM partners was predicted by daily functioning", but "participants who reported feeling lonely or socially anxious in school on a daily basis were more likely to communicate through IMs with people they did not know well (i.e. strangers vs. friends)" (Gross et al., 2002). The authors set out to prove a somewhat obvious hypothesis--namely, that kids with friends will chat with them online; kids with fewer or no friends will chat with strangers in an attempt to find connection. No one would dismiss the comforting benefits of socialization with friends online, but the implication that "the Internet may serve distinct functions for socially anxious and lonely individuals" is an important one, (Gross et al., 2002) and a closer examination of potentially positive and negative effects of these communication efforts would be worthwhile.

A further look at mental health and usage patterns is evidenced in Sanders, Field, Diego and Kaplan's (2000) study "The Relationship of Internet Use to Depression and Social Isolation Among Adolescents" to confirm their hypothesis that "a high level of Internet use was expected to be related to less than optimal ratings on both relationship and depression scales." Eighty-nine Florida high school seniors, of middle to upper class background, participated in the study, which included a psychometric questionnaire that measured them on an Intimacy Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale. Findings revealed that there was no variation among genders, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, but that low Internet users had "significantly better relationships with their mothers and friends." There was no correlation between amount of Internet usage and depression.

The authors conclude "it was impossible to determine whether adolescents with poor social ties gravitated toward Internet activity or excessive Internet activity decreased social ties, or both." While additional self-reporting might have enhanced these findings, they acknowledge that "a wider range of social and psychological factors should be assessed in regard to Internet use" (Sanders et al., 2000). Nevertheless, both of these studies bring up important issues and bear watching--might better communication between librarians and their students, an understanding of the patterns of their Internet engagement, promote greater awareness of possible mental health issues or problems?

How do socioeconomic factors affect usage patterns? Kupperman and Fishman (2002) in "Academic, Social and Personal Uses of the Internet: Cases of Students from a Latino Urban Classroom" set out to investigate "when economic barriers are lowered, are there still large differences in the value people find in computers and the Internet based on culture or other situational factors". The authors suggest that there is a paucity of research investigating the ways in which families engage with technology when first introduced into a household, and they propose that the Internet brings issues of equity to the forefront--those who have and do not have access to increasingly sophisticated technological resources. In addition, they cite language as one of the 'barriers' to access of the predominantly English Internet as well as the economic resources to provide the hardware and services in homes and in less well-funded school districts.

 

New tools create new literacies, and these in turn can create new abilities and disabilities; when a tool (language, kind of literacy) becomes dominant, those are who skilled with that tool become privileged. Bruce and Hagan write, "we cannot simply choose our tools in order to be literate participants. Instead, technology chooses us; it marks us as full, marginal or non-participating" (Kupperman & Fishman, 2002).

 

The study followed a group of lower class middle school ELS students in central Detroit whose homes were equipped with Net TV with Internet access to examine the ways in which this technology influenced the home, participants, and their families as they worked within the framework of a school-based science curriculum, as well as being allowed to use the technology for their own exploration. Videotaped interviews were conducted with students and parents to determine usage patterns with Net TV while electronic data was compiled to quantify time spent with the technology. Data consisted largely of the respondentsÌ logged entries about their interactions, and this evidence was compiled into case studies which encompassed the three areas of family, school and 'kid' life.

Jorge and Estella Gomez, siblings who shared the technology in their home, adapted easily and enjoyed using e-mail, surfing the Internet for homework assignments and recreational purposes, and, in Jorge's case, helping to troubleshoot technological problems for some of his classmates in the study. "Jorge was a skillful user of the technology, and he was perhaps for the first time in a position of being an expert in relation to his peers and even his teachers" (Kupperman & Fishman, 2002). By contrast, their parents did not participate at all in the Net TV project. (Mrs. Gomez later confessed a fear of 'breaking it'.)

The Valdez family were more actively involved, with Mrs. Valdez helping her children with their homework, searching the Internet for her own purposes and using e-mail, though they lacked the necessary search strategies to hone into Web information. Mrs. Valdez embraced the technology but was clearly confused about its parameters. As a consequence, her children were less enthusiastic than the Gomezes.

Manuel Martinez' father was rare in his participation with the project and personal engagement with the technology. The family used the equipment for recreational, but not academic, purposes. Manuel revealed that he explored adult sites online, and the authors suggest that "each student brought, or quickly formed, ideas of what Net TV was good for" (Kupperman & Fishman, 2002).

The researchers conclude that while "children often take the lead in using computers" no generalizations can be made about the way families uniquely engaged with technology. Allowing for familial differences, they acknowledge that ethnic and socioeconomic factors caused variations, such as the extent to which language facility was a barrier, parents were more or less available in the home outside of work hours or willing or unwilling to engage in the technology. The authors offer that further investigation is needed in areas such as ESL speakers' engagement with or disaffection with Euro-American dominated media, whether the Internet influences patterns of behavior at home or in the schools, or the ways in which the Internet can be valuable as an academic and personally empowering tool. It is clear that parental support or indifference can help shape their children's attitudes, with implications for involving novice parents in school or community libraries by offering introductory or more advanced training in the Internet skills that their children are trying to master.

Slovene Andrej Sarjo ("Searching for Information on the Internet: What if Your Students Cannot Speak English?") follows this line, identifying further challenges to ESL high school students in Slovenia where "problems may arise when they do not know synonyms or appropriate terms which can be used as key words" (Sarjo, 2003). He concludes that in the English-dominated Internet, which he describes as "a great continent, surrounded with an archipelago of small islands," his students can often find no information in their language (Sarjo, 2003). In consequence. library materials and ESL curricula might be developed which utilize technology to focus on synonyms and keywords.

Librarians and media specialists interact with teens of every ethnicity, social class, facility with English, and range of mental health, the vast majority of whom will engage with the technology of the Internet in the home and school. A greater awareness of the individual differences among users, the impact of their families, personal histories and journeys in shaping perceptions of their abilities and attitudes towards the Internet can only enhance the sensitivity with which we try to provide services to this population.

Though Menard-Warwick & Dubach (2004) acknowledge that "it is problematic to assume that because all are 'connected', they benefit equally from this technology," we might start by focusing on the visual literacy of the next generation of workers, parents, and educators--the teen population--to ensure that they can confidently and critically engage with all aspects of the Internet as we move into the digital future.

 

Gross, E.F., Juvonen, J., & Gable, S.L. (2002). Internet use and well-being in adolescence. Journal of Social Issues, 58 (1), 75-90.

 

 

Kupperman, J. & Fishman, B.J. (2002). Academic, social and personal uses of the Internet: case of students from an urban Latino classroom. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34 (2), 189-215.

 

 

Menard-Warwick, J. & Dabach, D.B. (2004) "In a little while I could be in front": social mobility, class, and gender in the computer practices of two Mexicano families. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47 (5), 380-389.

 

 

Merchant, G. (2001). Teenagers in cyberspace: an investigation of language use and language change in internet classrooms. Journal of Research on Reading, 24 (3), 293-306.

 

 

Miller, L.M., Schweingruber, H., & Brandenburg, C.L. (2001). Middle school studentsÌ technology practices and preferences: re-examining gender differences. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 10 (2), 125-40.

 

 

Sanders, C.E., Field, T.M., Diego, M., & Kaplan, M. (2000). The relationship of Internet use to depression and social isolation among adolescents. Adolescence 25 (138), 237-242.

 

Sorgo, D. (2003). Searching for information on the Internet. What if your students cannot speak English? International Journal of Instructional Media, 30 (3), 315-319.

 

Watson, J.S. (2001). Students and the world wide web. Teacher Librarian, 29 (1) 15-19.

 

 

 

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