Uppeldi og menntun - 01.06.2015, Qupperneq 71

Uppeldi og menntUn/icelandic JoUrnal of edUcation 24(1) 2015 71
ólínA FreysTeinsdóTTir, hAlldór s. gUðmUndssOn Og K JArTAn ólAFssOn
“Only five more minutes”: Adolecents, internet use and
communication with parents
aBstraCt
The family as a social institution has had to adapt to various changes over time as a
result of alterations in the labour market, technical innovations and shifts in social val-
ues. The advent of the internet and resulting changes in communication have brought
yet another challenge for the family. This study looks at the concept of adolescent
internet addiction, or excessive internet use, from the point of view of family theory,
asking two key questions: The first is how the issue of setting boundaries is reflected
in the way adolescents who show signs of internet addiction talk about their internet
use. The second is how adolescents who show signs of internet addiction describe
their interaction with their parents. Data was collected as part of a European research
project (EUNET ADB). Using a qualitative approach, thirteen young individuals aged
14–17 (four girls and nine boys) who showed some signs of problematic internet use
on a screening test were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in the period from
June 2011 to June 2012. The main findings are that the adolescents themselves thought
that their internet use was too extensive and that the time they spent on the internet
had a negative impact on their performance at school and on interaction with their
parents. These young individuals were also aware that their parents did not approve
of their online behaviour and they showed a degree of understanding as to why their
parents attempted to limit their use of computers and the internet. The adolescents
generally thought that their parents should concern themselves with what they do on
the internet although they also felt that their parents were perhaps too focused on the
time spent online rather than what they actually did there. The approaches used by
parents varied between adolescents. Some parents relied mainly on rules while others
tried to engage in dialogue with the adolescents to establish a common understanding
of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. In some cases, parents resorted to extreme
actions like disconnecting routers to deal with what, from their point of view, was
their children’s unacceptable behaviour. Studies have shown that if adolescents en-
gage in a discourse with their parents on online behaviour they are less likely to suffer
negative consequences as a result of online activities. For this reason it is important
to support parents in engaging with their children’s internet use in a constructive
way. Indeed, for many of the adolescents the internet had provided valuable oppor-
tunities to meet new friends and engage in what for them were interesting activities.
It might be argued that in some cases the tension between the adolescents and their
parents around internet use could be eased by a different framing of the topic and a
move from focussing on time spent online to the actual activities. In this respect it is
also important to look at the internet use of adolescents in a broader context of their
everyday life.
Keywords: Adolescents, internet addiction, internet use, family studies, parental me-
diation