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Adolescents and the Internet
by Nathalie Louge
October 2006
Continued on page 2
“The Internet is transforming the experience of growing
up in America. It is also transforming the job of being a
parent in America. The Internet brings the world — the
good, the bad, and the ugly — to the American family’s
doorstep. It brings the ruins of ancient Athens to that
doorstep, but it also brings the red light district of
Bangkok.”
(Third Way Culture Project, 2005).
Established only a few decades ago, the Internet is a system
of enormous technical and social complexity. It comprises a
gigantic but almost invisible universe that includes thousands
of networks, millions of computers, and billions of users
across the world (Greenfield & Yan, 2006). Computer access
and use among adolescents and other age brackets have
grown exponentially over the past decade. More than 80%
of American youth, ages 12 to 17, use the Internet, and nearly
half log on daily (Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005). Although
little research has been conducted on the effects of the
Internet on various aspects of human development, the role
of computers and the Internet as a means for socialization,
education, information access, entertainment, shopping, and
communication is increasing dramatically. Many adolescents
reportedly prefer being online to other media, including the
telephone, TV, and radio. Given that so many adolescents
are spending so much time on the Internet, it is essential to
be aware of its impact on adolescent behavior, well-being,
and development.
Understanding the Teen Online World
It is critical to view the Internet as a new social environment
in which universal adolescent issues pertaining to identity
formation, sexuality, and self-worth are explored in a virtual
world (Subrahmanyam et al.). As a social context, the Internet
enables multiple communication functions, such as e-mail,
instant messaging (IM), chat, and blogs, to allow adolescents
to participate and co-construct their own environments
(Greenfield & Yan, 2006). According to data from the Pew
Internet and American Life Project, the vast majority (89%)
of teens use e-mail; 75% use IM, which allows them to have
multiple simultaneous conversations with a defined group of
peers. Over 50% of teens possess more than one e-mail
address or screen name, which they can use to send private
messages to friends or to participate anonymously in online
forums, such as chat rooms (Lenhart et al., 2005).
Easy and continuous access to the Internet provides
tremendous opportunities for adolescent socialization, allowing
them to connect with their peers as well as with complete
strangers from across the world. Clearly, the Internet is
transforming the social world of adolescents by influencing
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how they communicate, establish and maintain relationships,
and find social support. Therefore, it is essential to gain
awareness of both the potential benefits and risks of teen
Internet use, and provide strategies to guide safe and positive
practice.
Benefits of Teen Internet Use
As a complex medium of communication, the Internet
provides the possibility of small, intimate social environments
geared towards faster or “instant” communication. At the
same time, the networks can be very large offering global
access to its users. This global network allows for American
teens to connect with those in Botswana or any “wired”
area in the world. This propels the development of youth
leadership, communication, socialization, information, and
learning to an international scale. For example, teens in Accra,
Ghana use the Internet as a source of health information in
order to gain the necessary information on both sexual and
general health issues that they would probably not have
access to in their own local environment (Cassell et al, 2006).
Research on American youth
shows that the Internet serves
as a powerful resource for
information about socially
sensitive topics such as sex
and interpersonal relations
(Suzuki & Calzo, 2004); it also
serves as a communitybuilding
tool providing
information on civic
engagement and political
participation (Rainie &
Horrigan, 2005). Studies have
shown that through Internet
communication, youth are
given the opportunity to
exercise leadership skills and
become stakeholders in
communities that they
themselves have created. This
encourages autonomy and
identity construction free of
norms and expectations. Despite fears of stalkers and
inappropriate sites, parents are beginning to recognize the
Internet as a powerful tool for both networking, and academic
enhancement for their children. A recent study found that
low-income youth who consistently used the Internet
exhibited higher grade point averages over the course of
time (Jackson et al., 2006) than less frequent users.
Some evidence suggests that Internet communication may
be especially advantageous for shy, socially anxious, or
marginalized youth, enabling them to practice social skills
without the risks associated with face-to-face interactions
(Heitner, 2002; McKenna, Green, & Gleason, 2002;
Subrahmanyam et al., 2004). Additionally, online
communication may encourage more truthful exchanges:
many people report a greater willingness to share thoughts
and feelings online than they would in person (Lenhart et al.,
2001; McKenna & Bargh, 2000). This freedom from social
pressures may help adolescents build more confidence in
real social situations and can elicit a sense of connection to
others, an important aspect in adolescent social development.
On the other hand, this lack of “on the ground” interactions
may pose risks for teens, especially those who are socially
anxious.
Risk Factors of Teens Internet Use
Although the Internet has consistent positive impacts on
modern society, it has also caused various societal concerns
about privacy, security, pornography, Internet crime, and
virtual community (Greenfield
& Yan, 2006). Its easy
accessibility poses greater risks
and dangers for youth as
compared to other forms of
media. According to the
National Altitudinal Poll, the
number one media concern for
parents has shifted from
television to the Internet: 85%
of parents reported that among
all forms of media, the Internet
posed the greatest risk to their
children (Common Sense
Media, 2006). Parental
concerns are valid, especially
considering that teens are
essentially free to view and post
whatever they choose and
communicate with whomever
they want.
Hand in hand with this, the Internet has become a highly
effective and profitable means of distributing sexually explicit
material, as well as a sophisticated channel for compulsive
sexual behavior, sex trafficking, and sex crimes (Galbreath
& Berlin, 2002). According to a survey performed by the
London School of Economics (2002), 90% of children between
ages 8 and 16 have viewed pornography on the Internet. In
most cases, the sex sites were accessed unintentionally when
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a child, often in the process of doing homework, used an
innocuous word to search for information or pictures.
Such free access and exposure to this information by
adolescents who have not yet developed a full maturity
could pose negative impacts on adolescent development
and could potentially manifest in their social interactions
with peers, their sexual activity, and their emotional
development (Subrahmanyam et al., 2006).
In addition, free and sometimes anonymous
communication through chat rooms, blogs, and IM pose
risks to teens. Recent studies have shown that
adolescents form virtual communities to support
unhealthy behavior including self-injury and eating
disorders (Whitlock et al, 2006). Analysis of chat
conversations suggests that chat participants often resort
to the age/sex/location chat code to share identity
information. A nationwide poll showed that half of teens
ages 13-18 often communicate through the Internet with
someone they have not met in person; one-third have
talked about potentially meeting someone face-to-face
whom they have only met through the Internet (Polly
Klaas Foundation, 2006). Further, almost 12.5%
discovered that someone they were communicating with
online was an adult pretending to be much younger. Fake
identities are easy to produce and to sell on the Internet.
Teens will often create personal pages where they can
make up or post their real identities, personal profiles,
and pictures on websites such as Myspace and the
Facebook. This poses a safety risk since it is difficult to
discern someone’s “real” identity over the Internet. In
addition, a national poll revealed that 54% of girls reported
they could be online without their parents’ knowledge
and have been involved in some sort of cyber relationship
(Girl Scout Research Institute, 2002). As long as this
online culture grows in popularity and socializing continues
to be a priority for teens, safety will be an issue.
Moreover, creating fake identities deters from “real life”
social situations as it allows for individuals to create any
image of themselves with little or no social repercussions.
Thus, although the Internet may serve as a catalyst for
communication and may increase social competence of
socially anxious teens, it may also encourage fake
identities and a false image of real life situations. These
socially anxious teens may have a tendency to resort to
computer communication as a substitute for real life
interactions (Subrahmanyam et al., 2006).
STRATEGIES: Guidance for Positive Internet Use
As technology continues to expand access to the Internet,
use among teens is inevitable. Consequently, rather than
focussing on censorship of teen use; we must look for
strategies to encourage safer and more positive operation of
this complex system. Some potential strategies include:
????A federal law, The Children’s Online Privacy Protection
Act (COPPA) requires websites to explain their privacy
policies on the site and obtain parental consent before
collecting or using a minor’s personal information, such as
a name, address, phone number, or social security number.
The law also prohibits a site from requiring youth to provide
more personal information than necessary to play a game
or contest. For more information: www.fcc.gov/cgb/
consumerfacts/cipa.html.
????Parents and educators can place Internet filters that inhibit
access to inappropriate sites such as pornographic sites.
Adolescents’ access to sexual and reproductive health
information is minimally affected by pornography-blocking
software. For example, only 5% of online health
information was filtered out by pornography-blocking
software when installed at moderate settings while blocking
90% of pornographic content. For more information:
www.wiredsafety.org.
????Many sites use “cookies,” devices that track specific
information about the user, such as name, email address,
and shopping preferences. Cookies can be disabled. Ask
your Internet service provider for more information. For
more information: www.internet-filters.net.
????Parents and educators can educate themselves about the
Internet. For more information: www.commonsense.com.
????Parents should not be afraid to monitor their teen’s use of
the Internet. Tracking programs can be purchased to access
previously visited sites.
????Keep the computer in a common area, not in individual
bedrooms, where you can watch and monitor your teen.
????Parents should become involved in their teens Internet
life. Perhaps acquire a screen name and chat with their
teen online. This will allow parents to be on the same page
as their teens.
????A number of schools have incorporated media literacy into
their curriculum in order to educate kids about the risks
and benefits of Internet use. These programs will often
show kids how to identify deceiving information and to
never fully trust any non-accredited website. For more
information:
www.protectkids.com/dangers/stats.htm#youth.
The Center of Excellence invites you to visit the ACT for Youth website where additional
copies of this newsletter and many other youth development resources are available.
www.actforyouth.net
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Cornell University
Family Life Development Center
Beebe Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
TEL: 607.255.7736
FAX: 607.255.8562
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References
Cassell, J., Huffaker, D., Tversky, D., & Ferriman, K. (2006). The
language of online leadership: Gender and youth engagement on
the Internet. Applied Developmental Psychology, 42, 436-449
Common Sense Media <www.commonsense.com/>
Galbreath, N. & Berlin, F. (2002). Paraphilias and the Internet. In
A. Cooper (Ed.), Sex and the Internet: A guidebook for clinicians
(pp. 187–205). New York: Brunner Routledge.
Girl Scout Research Institute (2002). The Net Effect: Girls and
New Media <www.girlscouts.org/research/publications/original/
net_effect.asp>
Greenfield, P. & Yan, Z. (2006). Children, adolescents, and the
Internet: A new field of inquiry in developmental psychology.
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 42 (3), 391-394
Jackson, L.A., Von Eye, A., Biocca, F.A., Barbatsis, G., Zhao, Y., &
Fitzgerald, H.E. (2006). Does home Internet use influence the
academic performance of low-income children? Journal of
Developmental Psychology, 42, 429-435.
Lenhart, A., Madden, M., & Hitlin, P. (2005, July 27). Teens and
technology: You are leading the transition to a fully wired and
mobile nation. Retrieved October 12, 2005, from
www.pewInternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Tech_July2005web.pdf
Livingstone, S. (2002). Children’s Use of the Internet: A
Literature Review, Report to the National Children’s Bureau.
Available from <www.ncb.org.uk/feature/Internet>
McKenna, K.Y.A., & Bargh, J.A. (2000). Plan 9 from Cyberspace:
The implications of the Internet for personality and social
psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 57-75.
McKenna, K.Y.A., Green, A., & Gleason, M. (2002). Relationship
formation on the Internet: What’s the big attraction? Journal of
Social Issues, 58, 9-31.
Polly Klaas Foundation (2006) <www.pollyklaas.org/Internetsafety/
Internet-pdfs/PollingSummary.pdf>
Rainie, L., & Horrigan, J. (2005). A decade of adoption: How the
Internet has woven itself into American life. Washington DC: Pew
Internet and Family Life.
Subrahmanyam, K., Greenfield, P.M., & Tynes, B. (2004).
Constructing sexuality and identity in an online teen chat room.
Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 651-666.
Suzuki, L.K., & Calzo, J.P. (2004). The search for peer advice in
cyberspace: An examination of online teen bulletin boards about
health and sexuality. Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 685-
698.
Third Way Culture Project. (2005). The porn standard: Children and
pornography on the Internet. Retrieved August 3, 2005, from
<www.thirdway.com/products/THE_PORN_STANDARD.pdf>
Whitlock, J.L., Powers, J.L., & Eckenrode, J. (2006). The virtual
cutting edge: The Internet and adolescent self-injury. Journal of
Applied Developmental Psychology, 42, 407-417.
Discussion Board Forum 4
Topic: The Age of the Internet
“The Internet is transforming the experience of growing up in America. It is also transforming the job of being a parent in America. The Internet brings the world — the good, the bad, and the ugly — to the American family’s doorstep” (Third Way Culture Project, 2005).
In the United States, most adolescents have internet connections at home, and they spend a significant amount of time online in various capacities (e.g., socializing, accessing information, shopping, entertaining themselves, etc.). While the internet is a powerful and useful tool, it also has the potential to cause enormous harm to the people who utilize it. For example, along with the various opportunities available for legitimate social networking, there comes the potential for sexual predators to victimize both children and adolescents.
After reading the article by Nathalie Louge (2006) entitled “Adolescents and the Internet” (found in the Reading & Study folder of Module/Week 8), address the following issues:
Make sure that you cite material from the Louge (2006) article, the text, and the Bible as you address these 3 main issues. Format your citations according to current APA format.