Is on-line time “good” for teenagers??

Friday 30 January 09

Over three years, a team of researchers of the University of California interviewed over 800 youth and young adults and conducted over 5000 hours of online observations as part of the most extensive U.S. study of youth media use (the Digital Youth Project).

They found that social network and video-sharing sites, online games, and gadgets such as iPods and mobile phones are now fixtures of youth culture. The research shows that today’s youth may be coming of age and struggling for autonomy and identity amid new worlds for communication, friendship, play, and self-expression. Young people learn how to communicate online, craft a public identity, create a home page, post links. "All these things were regarded as sophisticated 10 years ago but young people today take them for granted," Dr Ito told the BBC.

The researchers explain why youth find these activities compelling and important. The digital world is creating new opportunities for youth to grapple with social norms, explore interests, develop technical skills, and experiment with new forms of self-expression. Dr Ito said that connecting online with friends via social networks such as MySpace and Facebook was where teens now "hang out", compared to the usual public places like shopping malls, the street and parks.

Many adults worry that children are wasting time online, texting, or playing video games. But contrary to adult perceptions, while hanging out online, youth are picking up basic social and technical skills they need to fully participate in contemporary society. Erecting barriers to participation deprives teens of access to these forms of learning. But even if it’s true that youth using new media often learn from their peers, not teachers or adults, those can still have tremendous influence in setting learning goals, particularly on the interest-driven side where adult hobbyists function as role models and more experienced peers.

Learning today is becoming increasingly peer-based and networked, and this suggests new ways of thinking about the role of education.

New media allow for a degree of freedom and autonomy for youth that is less apparent in a classroom setting. Youth respect one another’s authority online. Their efforts are also largely self-directed, and the outcome emerges through exploration, in contrast to classroom learning that is oriented by set, predefined goals.

New media forms have altered how youth socialize and learn, and raise a new set of issues that educators, parents, and policymakers should consider. Adults should facilitate young people’s engagement with digital media, thinking of it as a process guiding youths’ participation in public life more generally.

If you want to know more about it, check http://digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/report.

And don't forget to tell us what are your views on it? Do you agree that on-line time is important for teenagers or do you think that it is actually a waste of time? Let us know on our forum!!!