What Children Do on the Internet: Domains Visited and Their Relationship to Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Academic Performance
Abstract
HomeNetToo is a longitudinal field study designed to examine the antecedents and consequences of home Internet use in low-income families. Participants included 140 children, mostly 13-year-old African American (83%) boys (58%), living in single-parent households (75%) where the median annual income was $15,000 (USD). This report focuses on children's Internet activities, socio-demographic characteristics related to their Internet activities, and the relationship between academic performance and Internet activities. Overall, findings indicate that low-income children initially use the Internet primarily for entertainment. As home Internet use loses its novelty children become more focused in their Internet activities, reducing the number of websites they visit and visiting more websites targeted to their specific interests. Pornography websites are popular initially, especially among boys, but their popularity decreases dramatically after 3 months. Age, race, and sex have little influence on which websites are most popular. Academic performance predicts subsequent Internet activities, and Internet activities predict subsequent academic performance. Directions for future research to identify mechanisms that mediate the relationship between Internet activities and academic performance and implications for the digital divide are discussed.
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Each sedentary screen-based activity (e.g., talking to someone, looking at magazines, playing) might have a different implication for academic performance.
“each sedentary screen-based activity (eg, talking to someone, looking at magazines, or playing) might have a different implication for academic performance.82,83”
From Association Between Screen Media Use and Academic Performance Among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (2019) · cites this paper as [82]
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- Authors
- Jackson, L. A., Samona, R., Moomaw, J., Ramsay, L., Murray, C., Smith, A., & Murray, L.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Venue
- CyberPsychology & Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-04
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 182-190
- ISSN
- 1094-9313 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-8364
- OpenAlex
- W1978343313
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 26.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- CyberPsychology & Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Child Development and Digital Technology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender and Technology in Education
- Keywords
- children's internet use, household internet use, low-income households, single-parent families, African American children, academic performance, entertainment use, digital divide, sociodemographic factors, longitudinal study
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Black or African American, Child, Educational Status, Erotica, Female, Humans, Leisure Activities, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Michigan, Socioeconomic Factors, Utilization Review, Internet, Single-Parent Family, Black People, White People
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