Engl. transl.: "Only five more minutes": Adolescents, internet use and communication with parents

The family as a social institution has had to adapt to various changes over time as a result of alterations in the labour market, technical innovations and shifts in social values. The advent of the internet and resulting changes in communication have brought yet another challenge for the family. This study looks at the concept of adolescent internet addiction, or excessive internet use, from the point of view of family theory, asking two key questions: The first is how the issue of setting boundaries is reflected in the way adolescents who show signs of internet addiction talk about their internet use. The second is how adolescents who show signs of internet addiction describe their interaction with their parents. Data was collected as part of a European research project (EUNET ADB). Using a qualitative approach, thirteen young individuals aged 14–17 (four girls and nine boys) who showed some signs of problematic internet use on a screening test were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in the period from June 2011 to June 2012. The main findings are that the adolescents themselves thought that their internet use was too extensive and that the time they spent on the internet had a negative impact on their performance at school and on interaction with their parents. These young individuals were also aware that their parents did not approve of their online behaviour and they showed a degree of understanding as to why their parents attempted to limit their use of computers and the internet. The adolescents generally thought that their parents should concern themselves with what they do on the internet although they also felt that their parents were perhaps too focused on the time spent online rather than what they actually did there. The approaches used by parents varied between adolescents. Some parents relied mainly on rules while others tried to engage in dialogue with the adolescents to establish a common understanding of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. In some cases, parents resorted to extreme actions like disconnecting routers to deal with what, from their point of view, was their children’s unacceptable behaviour. Studies have shown that if adolescents engage in a discourse with their parents on online behaviour they are less likely to suffer negative consequences as a result of online activities. For this reason it is important to support parents in engaging with their children’s internet use in a constructive way. Indeed, for many of the adolescents the internet had provided valuable opportunities to meet new friends and engage in what for them were interesting activities. It might be argued that in some cases the tension between the adolescents and their parents around internet use could be eased by a different framing of the topic and a move from focussing on time spent online to the actual activities. In this respect it is also important to look at the internet use of adolescents in a broader context of their everyday life

-In the adolescent's opinion, it is their parents' job to set limits on internet use. -Some adolescents reported a lot of internet restrictions while others reported none. -Most adolescents were not happy with the restrictions and claimed that their parents were not understanding -Some participants reported that sleep, school, homework, communication with friends and parents were all affected by their internet addiction -Very few chose to describe their relationship with their parents -Participants tended to use the internet when they were bored -Some participants reported excessive internet usage because of being bullied, loneliness or other personal problems.