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Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents

DeBell, Matthew and Chris Chapman. “Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents in 2001,” NationalCenter for Education Statistics, U.S.

Department of Education, October, 2003.

 

 

OVERVIEW

This report uses data from the September Computer and Internet Use supplement to the 2001 Current Population Survey to examine the use of computers and the Internet by American children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17.1 The report examines the overall rate of use, the ways in which children and teens use the technologies, where the use occurs (home, school, and other locations), and the relationships of these aspects of computer and Internet use to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as children’s age and race/ethnicity and their parents’ education and family income.

 

DESIGN

This report is based on data collected in the September Computer and Internet Use supplement to the 2001 Current Population Survey. Interviews were conducted in approximately 56,000 households. One respondent per household was interviewed and that respondent provided information both about the household and about individual household members, including information pertaining to their computer and Internet use.1 Respondents provided information about the computer and Internet use experiences of 28,002 5- to 17-year-olds. The following questions are addressed using these data:

1. What percentage of children and adolescents use computers and the Internet?

2. Is use by children and adolescents related to age, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics such as race/ethnicity, family income, parents’ educational attainment, and other factors?

3. How do children and adolescents use home computers and the Internet?

4. Where do children and adolescents use computers? Where do they use the Internet? How many users use the Internet in only one place, and what locations do these users favor?

5. Do the ways children and adolescents use computers and the Internet, and where they use them, vary by children’s and adolescents’ demographic or socioeconomic characteristics?

 

 

FINDINGS

Key findings are as follows:

  • Most children and adolescents use these technologies. About 90 percent of children and adolescents ages 5–17 (47 million persons) use computers, and about 59 percent (31 million persons) use the Internet.
  • Use begins at an early age. About three-quarters of 5-year-olds use computers, and over 90 percent of teens (ages 13–17) do so. About 25 percent of 5-year-olds use the Internet, and this number rises to over 50 percent by age 9 and to at least 75 percent by ages 15–17.
  • There is a “digital divide.” Computer and Internet use are divided along demographic and socioeconomic lines. Use of both technologies is higher among Whites than among Blacks and Hispanics and higher among Asians and American Indians than among Hispanics.2 Five- through 17-year-olds living with more highly educated parents are more likely to use these technologies than those living with less well educated parents, and those living in households with higher family incomes are more likely to use computers and the Internet than those living in lower incomehouseholds.
  • Disability, urbanicity, and household type are factors in the digital. Five through 17-year-olds without a disability are more likely to use computers and the Internet than their disabled peers, and children and adolescents living outside of central cities are more likely to use computers than those living in central cities. When not controlling for other factors, children and adolescents from two-parent households are more likely to use the computer and the Internet than those from single-parent households, and children and adolescents living outside of central cities are more likely to use the Internet than those living in central cities. However, when controlling for other factors such as family income and parent education, the association of household type and of Internet use outside of central cities was not statistically significant.
  • There are no differences between the sexes in overall computer or Internet use rates. In contrast to the 1990s, when boys were more likely to use computers and the Internet than girls were, overall computer and Internet use rates for boys and girls are now about the same.
  • More children and adolescents use computers at school (81 percent) than at home (65 percent).
  • Use of home computers for playing games and for work on school assignments are common activities. A majority (59 percent) of 5- through 17-year-olds use home computers to play games, and over 40 percent use computers to connect to the Internet (46 percent) and to complete school assignments (44 percent) (table 4). Middle-school-age and high-school-age youth (ages 11–17) use home computers to complete school assignments (57–64 percent), to connect to the Internet (54-63 percent), and to play games (60-63 percent).
  • Home is the most common location for Internet access, followed by school. Although nearly all schools have Internet access, children and adolescents are more likely to access the Internet from their homes (table 6). Of those children and adolescents who use the Internet, 78 percent access it at home, compared to 68 percent who access it at school. Many of those who rely more on access at school come from lower income families (less than $35,000 per year) or have parents who have not earned at least a high school credential.
  • Many disadvantaged children and adolescents use the Internet only at school. Among the group of children and adolescents who access the Internet at only one location, 52 percent of those from families in poverty and 59 percent of those whose parents have not earned at least a high school credential do so at school. In comparison, 26 percent of those from families not in poverty and 39 percent of those with more highly educated parents do so only at school. This illustrates the role of schools in bridging the digital divide.
  • Considering all locations, use of the Internet for work on school assignments, email, and games are common activities. About 72 percent of Internet users ages 5–17 (or 42 percent of all youth in this age range) use the Internet to complete school assignments, while 65 percent of users (38 percent of all persons 5–17) use the Internet for e-mail or instant messaging and 62 percent of users (36 percent of all persons 5–17) use it to play games (tables 8 and 9).

 
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

  1. How has the internet changed the way we communicate with one another?
  2. How does the internet affect the role of information exchange?

 

IMPLICATIONS

 


Youth workers cannot ignore the major role the internet plays in youths’ lives today. Thought should be given as to how to harness the power of the internet in working with them. Help kids learn how to navigate the web in a way that’s healthy; help them learn to set limits on how and how much they use the internet; point them to helpful websites by and for teens; perhaps work with them to create their own website.

 

 

Christen B. Yates. Copyright 2004. CYS.


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Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents

DeBell, Matthew and Chris Chapman. “Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents in 2001,” NationalCenter for Education Statistics, U.S.

Department of Education, October, 2003.

 

 

OVERVIEW

This report uses data from the September Computer and Internet Use supplement to the 2001 Current Population Survey to examine the use of computers and the Internet by American children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 17.1 The report examines the overall rate of use, the ways in which children and teens use the technologies, where the use occurs (home, school, and other locations), and the relationships of these aspects of computer and Internet use to demographic and socioeconomic characteristics such as children’s age and race/ethnicity and their parents’ education and family income.

 

DESIGN

This report is based on data collected in the September Computer and Internet Use supplement to the 2001 Current Population Survey. Interviews were conducted in approximately 56,000 households. One respondent per household was interviewed and that respondent provided information both about the household and about individual household members, including information pertaining to their computer and Internet use.1 Respondents provided information about the computer and Internet use experiences of 28,002 5- to 17-year-olds. The following questions are addressed using these data:

1. What percentage of children and adolescents use computers and the Internet?

2. Is use by children and adolescents related to age, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics such as race/ethnicity, family income, parents’ educational attainment, and other factors?

3. How do children and adolescents use home computers and the Internet?

4. Where do children and adolescents use computers? Where do they use the Internet? How many users use the Internet in only one place, and what locations do these users favor?

5. Do the ways children and adolescents use computers and the Internet, and where they use them, vary by children’s and adolescents’ demographic or socioeconomic characteristics?

 

 

FINDINGS

Key findings are as follows:

  • Most children and adolescents use these technologies. About 90 percent of children and adolescents ages 5–17 (47 million persons) use computers, and about 59 percent (31 million persons) use the Internet.
  • Use begins at an early age. About three-quarters of 5-year-olds use computers, and over 90 percent of teens (ages 13–17) do so. About 25 percent of 5-year-olds use the Internet, and this number rises to over 50 percent by age 9 and to at least 75 percent by ages 15–17.
  • There is a “digital divide.” Computer and Internet use are divided along demographic and socioeconomic lines. Use of both technologies is higher among Whites than among Blacks and Hispanics and higher among Asians and American Indians than among Hispanics.2 Five- through 17-year-olds living with more highly educated parents are more likely to use these technologies than those living with less well educated parents, and those living in households with higher family incomes are more likely to use computers and the Internet than those living in lower incomehouseholds.
  • Disability, urbanicity, and household type are factors in the digital. Five through 17-year-olds without a disability are more likely to use computers and the Internet than their disabled peers, and children and adolescents living outside of central cities are more likely to use computers than those living in central cities. When not controlling for other factors, children and adolescents from two-parent households are more likely to use the computer and the Internet than those from single-parent households, and children and adolescents living outside of central cities are more likely to use the Internet than those living in central cities. However, when controlling for other factors such as family income and parent education, the association of household type and of Internet use outside of central cities was not statistically significant.
  • There are no differences between the sexes in overall computer or Internet use rates. In contrast to the 1990s, when boys were more likely to use computers and the Internet than girls were, overall computer and Internet use rates for boys and girls are now about the same.
  • More children and adolescents use computers at school (81 percent) than at home (65 percent).
  • Use of home computers for playing games and for work on school assignments are common activities. A majority (59 percent) of 5- through 17-year-olds use home computers to play games, and over 40 percent use computers to connect to the Internet (46 percent) and to complete school assignments (44 percent) (table 4). Middle-school-age and high-school-age youth (ages 11–17) use home computers to complete school assignments (57–64 percent), to connect to the Internet (54-63 percent), and to play games (60-63 percent).
  • Home is the most common location for Internet access, followed by school. Although nearly all schools have Internet access, children and adolescents are more likely to access the Internet from their homes (table 6). Of those children and adolescents who use the Internet, 78 percent access it at home, compared to 68 percent who access it at school. Many of those who rely more on access at school come from lower income families (less than $35,000 per year) or have parents who have not earned at least a high school credential.
  • Many disadvantaged children and adolescents use the Internet only at school. Among the group of children and adolescents who access the Internet at only one location, 52 percent of those from families in poverty and 59 percent of those whose parents have not earned at least a high school credential do so at school. In comparison, 26 percent of those from families not in poverty and 39 percent of those with more highly educated parents do so only at school. This illustrates the role of schools in bridging the digital divide.
  • Considering all locations, use of the Internet for work on school assignments, email, and games are common activities. About 72 percent of Internet users ages 5–17 (or 42 percent of all youth in this age range) use the Internet to complete school assignments, while 65 percent of users (38 percent of all persons 5–17) use the Internet for e-mail or instant messaging and 62 percent of users (36 percent of all persons 5–17) use it to play games (tables 8 and 9).

 
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

  1. How has the internet changed the way we communicate with one another?
  2. How does the internet affect the role of information exchange?

 

IMPLICATIONS

 


Youth workers cannot ignore the major role the internet plays in youths’ lives today. Thought should be given as to how to harness the power of the internet in working with them. Help kids learn how to navigate the web in a way that’s healthy; help them learn to set limits on how and how much they use the internet; point them to helpful websites by and for teens; perhaps work with them to create their own website.

 

 

Christen B. Yates. Copyright 2004. CYS.


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