1. Photo by zeitfaenger.at Creative Commons License via Flickr
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CHILDREN
USE THE INTERNET?BY: DELARAM A .YAZDI

2. Photo by Judy Van Der Velden Creative Commons License via Flickr
There are
over
3.1 billion
Internet
users,
many of
whom are
under the
age of 12[1]

3. Photo by Amelia Wells Creative Commons License via Flickr
In fact, nearly 80% of kids aged 0-5 use
the Internet on a weekly basis in the U.S.
[2]

4. Photo by val.pearl Creative Commons License via Flickr
But is all of this done without their
parents’ knowledge?
Not quite…

5. Photo by Donnie Ray Jones Creative Commons License via Flickr
Almost 30% of parents allow their children to access
the Internet without any restrictions or supervision
[3]

6. Photo by zeitfaenger.at Creative Commons License via Flickr
However, many parents take a more active role,
such as becoming helicopter parents – “hovering
above at a safe distance” [4]

7. Photo by Images_of_Money Creative Commons License via Flickr
Many parents think that monitoring children’s online
activity can prevent drug abuse, poor relationship
decisions, and other hazards… [5]

8. Photo by tfrancis Creative Commons License via Flickr
Which is why 42%
searched for their
child’s name online
to see what information
was out there [4]

9. Photo by Sepehr Ehsani Creative Commons License via Flickr
However,
cyberparenting
can be more
HARMFUL HELPFULthan

10. Photo by Steven Depolo Creative Commons License via Flickr
“Covert monitoring, if discovered, has the
capacity to undermine the trust of the child
in the parent and others” – Kay Mathiesen[6]

11. Photo by Brittany Randolph Creative Commons License via Flickr
The negative implications of children’s
Internet usage are not just limited to the
online world, they affect everyday actions

12. Photo by US Department of Education Creative Commons License via Flickr
Literacy rates have dropped…

13. Photo by George Thomas Creative Commons License via Flickr
Due to excessive online reading,
“several English department chairs from
around the country have emailed to
say that their students are having
trouble reading the classics”[7]

14. Photo by Petras Gagilas Creative Commons License via Flickr
Face-to-face interaction has
also decreased…

15. Photo by Jake Stimpson Creative Commons License via Flickr
“Someday, someday, but certainly not now,
I’d like to learn how to have a conversation”
- 16 year old boy who relies on texting for almost everything [8]

16. Photo by Christian Schnettelker Creative Commons License via Flickr
Internet usage rates continue to remain
on the rise, with nearly 80% of jobs in
the next decade projected to require
digital skills… [9]

17. Photo by Leonardo Augusto Matsuda Creative Commons License via Flickr
So how can parents make their
children’s Internet usage beneficial?

18. Photo by dr_joe_sim Creative Commons License via Flickr
#1: Establish rules about amount
of use and what kinds of
information should not
be given out [10]

19. Photo by Daniela Goulart Creative Commons License via Flickr
#2: For younger children, use child-safe
websites such as Yahooligans or PBS Kids[11]

20. Photo by USAG – Humphreys Creative Commons License via Flickr
#3: Balance
screen time with
physical activity
time with a ratio
of 1:5
(every 1min spent online
should be balanced with
5min of offline activity)[12]

21. Photo by Tom Woodward Creative Commons License via Flickr
By being proactive rather than reactive, parents
can ensure that their children use the Internet as
the learning tool that it was meant to be

22. Photo by Tom Woodward Creative Commons License via Flickr
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Mathiesen,
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23. Photo by Tom Woodward Creative Commons License via Flickr
WORKS CITED
Rosenwald,
M.
(2014,
April
6).
Serious
reading
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hit
from
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Turkle,
Sherry.
(2013,
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The
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h>p://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE
%7CA352990428&v=2.1&u=queensulaw&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=64ed7fd1666adff5f62d1e8fab
1a0ca1
Genchowski,
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h>p://monadnockparents.org/files/teen-­‐talk-­‐teens-­‐and-­‐internet.pdf
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[7]
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[9]
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