This is the conclusion of a major in-depth study examining how teenagers in the UK are using the internet and other mobile devices. For this large-scale study more than 1,000 randomly selected households in the UK were questioned, together with regular face-to-face interviews with more than 200 teenagers and their families between 2008 and 2011.
It’s not only that internet access benefits the school life, teenagers without internet access at home are educationally disadvantaged. From the press release:
While the study reflects a high level of parental anxiety about the potential of social networking sites to distract their offspring, and shows that some parents despair at their children’s tendency to multitask on mobile devices, the research by Oxford University’s Department of Education concludes that there are substantial educational advantages in teenagers being able to access the internet at home.
Teenagers who do not have access to the internet in their home have a strong sense of being ‘educationally disadvantaged’, warns the study. At the time of the study, the researchers estimated that around 10 per cent of the teenagers were without online connectivity at home, with most of this group living in poorer households. While recent figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest this dropped to five per cent in 2012, the researchers say that still leaves around 300,000 children without internet access in their homes.
The researchers’ interviews with teenagers reveal that they felt shut out of their peer group socially and also disadvantaged in their studies as so much of the college or school work set for them to do at home required online research or preparation. One teenager, whose parents had separated, explained that he would ring his father who had internet access and any requested materials were then mailed to him through the post.
One of the researchers, dr Chris Davies, states “The evidence, based on the survey and hundreds of interviews, shows that parents have tended to focus on the negative side – especially the distracting effects of social networking sites – without always seeing the positive use that their children often make of being online.” (source)
It’s amazing how the accessibility of internet access can affect teens even to go as far as them having a strong sense of being ‘educationally disadvantaged’ by the lack of it. It sure is nice for kids these days to have instant access to almost any knowledge in the world. I’ll try to find a perfect plan for our new home once we move. Thanks for the great article!