99 per cent of young Canadians access the internet outside of school, most of them on mobile technologies, making it difficult for parents to supervise them, according to a study.
“One of the things that surprised us was the degree to which desktop computers have been replaced among young people by other, mostly mobile technologies,” says Matthew Johnson, director of education at MediaSmarts, a non-profit organization dedicated to media literacy for youth. He notes the young use laptops, tablets, mp3 players, game consoles, cell phones and smart phones and so, they can access the internet anywhere they want.
Young people “need skills”
“A lot of the advice we used to give about keeping a computer in a public part of the house, such as the living room or dining room, really doesn’t make sense anymore,” adds Johnson. Instead, he says, young people need skills they can take with them.
“There’s clearly a need for young people to be taught the skills and the ethical and critical thinking habits they need to make safe and wise decisions about their privacy and the privacy of their families and their peers,” says Johnson.
Parents setting fewer rules
When rules are set by parents, children usually obey them, found the study. However, parents are setting fewer rules than they have in the past.
Canadian youth mostly access the web for entertainment and social reasons, and they especially like to share content. Favourite sites include YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Many sleep with phones
They feel pressure to stay connected socially 24/7 to the extent that four out of ten sleep with their mobile phones.
Girls see the internet as a more dangerous and hostile environment in which they may be hurt. However 90 per cent of boys and girls report they are confident they can take care of themselves on the web.
“Parents do make a difference”
“The key point to take from this study is that parents do make a difference,” says Johnson. “By talking to our kids, by letting them know what we consider to be acceptable behaviour we really do make a measureable effect on what they do. And this is something that they can take with them however they’re connecting to the internet, wherever they’re connecting to the internet.
“Those skills, those habits, that ethical guidance is something that they’ll always have with them.”
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