Welcome to the UK Children Go Online Website
| "Does access to the internet really alter children's daily lives?" |
| "How are children finding out how to use the internet?" |
| "What skills are they gaining?" |
| "Who lacks access or can't use the internet?" |
| "Are they getting left out?" |
| "Does online communication enhance face-to-face interaction?" |
| "Or undermine it?" |
| "Are children benefiting from the educational potential of the internet?" |
| "How much are they engaging in risky or harmful behaviour?" |
The
project explores the nature and meaning of children's internet use and
maps
emerging patterns of
attitudes
and practices across diverse contexts and social groups in the UK.
It is part of the ESRC's
e-Society
Programme and is based at the Department of Media
and Communications at the London
School
of Economics and Political
Science.
Project Overview
Summary: Many households with children now have domestic internet access. Early research has shown that parents hope to improve their children's educational prospects but are concerned about online dangers. Further, parents are unsure how to guide their children towards creative or valuable sites; although children are enthusiastically using the internet they too are unsure how to get the best out of the internet or how to avoid problems
Method: This project conducted a careful and rigorous investigation of 9-19 year olds' use of the internet, comparing girls and boys of different ages, backgrounds etc, in order to ask how the internet may be transforming – or may itself be shaped by - family life, peer networks and informal learning processes. It combined qualitative interviews and observations with a large, national face-to-face survey of children (both users and non-users) and their parents.
Aims: The
aim was to balance an assessment of two areas of risk - (a) inequalities/the
digital divide and (b) undesirable forms
of content; with that of two areas of opportunity - (c) education, informal
learning and literacy, and (d) new forms of
communication and participation. The findings contributed to the developing
policy framework regulating children and young
people's internet use.
New!
'UK Children Go Online:
Final report of key project findings'
Last updated 08 August 2006
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