Orig. title: Ortaokul Öğrencilerinin İnternet Kullanım Biçimleri: Riskli Davranışlar ve Fırsatlar
Engl. transl.: The Use of The Internet Among Middle School Students: Risky Behaviors and Opportunities
Keywords
Internet use styles
risky internet behavior
parents’ level of education
Publication details
| Year: | 2016 |
| Issued: | 2015 |
| Language: | Turkish |
| Volume: | 24 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page: | 383 |
| End Page: | 404 |
| Editors: | |
| Authors: | Gökçearslan Ş.; Seferoğlu S. |
| Type: | Journal article |
| Journal: | Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi |
| Topics: | Literacy and skills; Internet usage, practices and engagement |
| Sample: | In the study, 707 students who were studying in various provinces of Turkey (Ankara, Bolu, Bursa, Mersin, Istanbul, Ordu) in the 2012-2013 academic year and participated in the study on a voluntary basis, took part in the study through convenient sampling. 46.53% (329) of the participants were girls and 53.47% (378) were boys. Looking at the class distribution, it is understood that 9.05% of them are in the 6th grade (64), 41.44% are in the 7th grade (293), and 49.50% (350) are in the 8th grade. Students are in the second level according to the new system known as 4+4+4. According to the mother's education level, 5.80% (41) of the mothers were illiterate, 45.69% (323) primary school, 22.07% (156) secondary school, 20.79% (147) high school, 5.09% (36) university and 0.57% (4) graduate. According to father's education level, 2.40% (17) of fathers are illiterate, 27.40% (193) primary school, 26.59% (188) secondary school, 29.00% (205) high school, 13.44% (95) university and 1.27% (9) graduate. |
| Implications For Parents About: | Parental digital literacy |
Abstract
The increasing opportunity to access the Internet from home has opened the way for a number of positive changes in our lives, while at the same time raising the specter of a variety of risks. This study examined middle school students’ computer and Internet usage in terms of time spent, perceived levels of proficiency, manner of home usage and risky Internet behavior. It also looked at how the gender of the students, the level of parental education, time spent online and level of the Internet proficiency affected students’ risky behavior. A significant proportion of children were found to spend long hours on the computer and to consider themselves at an intermediate or advanced level of proficiency with regard to computer and the Internet usage. Approximately half of the students surveyed connected to the Internet in their own rooms. Similarly, close to half of the students surveyed were subject to various types of parental limitations. Although scores for risky Internet behavior were not markedly high, students did exhibit certain types of risky behavior. Gender and mother’s level of education were found to correlate with risky Internet behavior. Overall, the study findings suggest that students, families and different institutions all have certain responsibilities with regard to online risks and those solutions to related problems require the collaboration of all stakeholders.
Outcome
13,86% of the students use the Internet for an average of more than 4 hours a day. It is seen that mostly siblings (22.21%) and fathers (14.14%) help with the computer and Internet use at home. The first reason for buying a computer at home is "helping with lessons" with a rate of 64.64%. This rate is followed by reasons such as “accessing information when needed” (57.85%), “playing games” (28.57%), “using music, pictures and videos” (23.62%). On the other hand, the restrictions imposed by the family on the use of computers and the Internet at home include time restrictions (32.67%), restrictions on the sites visited on the Internet (19.94%), restrictions on the programs used (14.57%), financial ( 5.94%) and other restrictions (7.92%). (translated by the coder)