Children's Internet Uses at Home

Abstract

The Internet is rapidly making its way to American residences. Nowadays, millions of children spend a tremendous amount of time at home, riding on the Internet superhighway. However, little is known about how children are using the Internet at home. This study is designed to investigate sixth graders' Internet uses at home environment. Questions investigated are: 1) What Internet activities were the children likely to engage in at home? 2) What were the children's perceptions about online information resources? 3) What were the roles of parents in supervising and guiding children's Internet uses at home? 4) What were the teachers' roles in associating with children's home Internet uses? 5) What were the children's perceptions of how knowledgeable their parents and teachers were in providing them guidance and advice in the Internet use?

Digital Divide: How Do Home Internet Access and Parental Support Affect Student Outcomes?

“…The first issue is parental support. Research points outs that students' online behaviors at home are mostly shaped by parents and close friends [11], yet there is very little research looking at the impact of parental support on student Internet use. The second issue is that most of the research treats Internet access as a simple concept, without looking into the nature and the quality of student use of the Internet.…”

Internet Use Among Middle School Students in School and at Home: What Can We Learn From a U.S.–China Comparison?

“…Wang (2003) suggested that, without being supervised by teachers and librarians, students' online behaviors at home are shaped by parents, friends, and their Internet use in school. Jackson et al (2005) found that over time, students will focus their Internet activities at home.…”