Social networking and gaming dominate young lives

ICT and Me was a research project published in September 2015, it was conducted by The National Children’s Bureau Northern Ireland (NCB NI), with the support of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. It was a longitudinal survey in Northern Ireland, studying the link between young people’s levels of access to, and usage of, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and how this subsequently impacts on GCSE attainment.

Read the full report here http://www.ncb.org.uk/media/1229655/ict_me.pdf

ch in NI

 

Key finding 1

Access to a computer/laptop at home is not an issue for the vast majority of young people with at least 95% reporting having access. However, despite the fact that only 5% report not having access to a computer or laptop, when scaled up across the top 40 schools in terms of deprivation, c.1,000 young people are potentially without access, placing them at significant disadvantage.

Key finding 2

Young people spend a significant amount of time online each day with one-third of young people spending four hours or more online in Year 1 rising to 40% in Year 2 of the study.

“I’m constantly on it to be fair.” (Pupil)

“You just always have to have a check to see what people are up to.” (Pupil)

“I always be checking my phone, even when I wake up in the middle of the night.” (Pupil)

Key finding 3

Social networking and gaming were identified by parents/carers and teachers as activities that could most negatively impact on young people’s attainment. Findings from this research confirm a link between extent of gaming and GCSE attainment, e.g. only two-fifths (41%) of pupils who reported using a portable games player a couple of times a day achieved 5A*-C GCSE grades compared to over three-quarters (77%) of those who reported rarely using one. No relationship was observed in terms of social networking.

Key finding 4

School staff were particularly concerned about extent of gaming, reporting a number of issues relating to attendance, punctuality and motivation. Particular issues identified in relation to male pupils with gaming addiction noted in some instances.

Just over one quarter of pupils stated that they play online games alone (27%) or with others (29%) on a daily basis. Further analysis of the survey revealed that males were more prolific users of a computer/laptop for playing games (either alone or with other others) with 42% of males playing games alone every day compared to just 12% of females. This finding is comparable with the literature which shows males are more likely to play online games than girls (Kids Life and Times survey, 2009; Mascheroni and Olafsson, 2013).

Key finding 5

Almost three-quarters (72%) of the young people surveyed as part of this study stated that they feel safe online. This corresponds to findings published by YouthNet (2011) which found over 75% of young people thought that the internet was a safe place. Parents/carers who participated in the focus groups/interviews appeared much more concerned for their child(ren)’s safety whilst online than the young people themselves –

Key finding 6

Social networking can negatively impact on young people’s concentration, distract them from their homework and can be a platform for bullying behaviour. Indeed many of the young people noted that Facebook, in particular, distracted them from their school work.

A study published by YouthNet (2011) suggested that it is common for young people to multi-task, with 90% likely to use different technologies at the same time.

“Definitely people would be texting and doing their homework at the same time or eating or watching TV whilst on Facebook at the same time.” (Pupil)

“If someone messages you on Facebook, then you go on your newsfeed and you end up spending half an hour on it looking at funny photos and videos and before you know it, it’s bedtime.” (Pupil)

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