The Effect of Internet on Children’s Communication

With the assist of technology development, the Internet has gained wide recognition and become an integrated part of our lives in a short time. The Internet revolution has reformed society since it brings us a digital data network, unprecedented access to information and communication. These advantages of Internet usage, therefore, accelerate Internet users worldwide growth to increase exponentially. In 2013, The World Bank Organization announced that about 44 per 100 Vietnamese are now accessing the Internet. The organization also reveals that 90 percent populations of the United Kingdom are Internet users. During their childhood and adolescents, developing language and communication skills to a child is significant (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Service, n.d.). In addition, it primarily interacts with the surrounding environment rather than social background (Roulstone, Law, Rush, Clegg, & Peters, 2010). Meanwhile, children nowadays use Internet more. They are surrounded by online environment and have a tendency to explore what on the web. In consequence, it is anticipated to have a series of effects on children development. This report is to give our findings on the impact of the cyberspace which are associated with children’s daily communication and gives suggestions for the negative cases.

Positive Effect

Educational Purpose

Self-efficacy and self-regulated learning. To study effectively, a child needs to develop his/her self-efficacy. Self-efficacy and self-regulated, as Chiou and Wan (2007) defined, are essential to one’s confidence level in achieving his goal. Unlike adults, children have vivid imaginations, genuine creativity, and unstoppable curiosity (Avery, 2004). Therefore, they obtain self-efficacy effortlessly if they are welcome to visualize. Besides teacher guidance at school, they have encouragement from the web to engage, and further to strengthen their inventive imagination. For example, if they cannot do something, they can watch it on Youtube which shows them step-by-step (Tuukkanen & Wilska, 2015). Result from Tuukkanen and Wilska (2015) reveals that children are tending to go online for their school projects or assignment more than self-entertaining. Again, Internet demonstrates distinct advantages in connecting learners with materials and teachers (Ritter, 2000). The web provides millions of websites which offer us the opportunity to approach billions homework help, textbook solution, and other e-resources in a few clicks. Otherwise, getting support from specialists is a reasonable choice. Since Internet provides us with communication services efficiently and without any cost, as a result, it minimizes distances and fosters connection between teachers and students.

Gather information quickly. Doan and Bloomfield conducted research on students’ essay grades under effects of web browsing (2014) by gathering three groups to take the same writing test, but in different conditions. One group was not permitted to use the Internet, the other two could, however, their time limit to do the test was reduced. Despite that, students who were allowed to go online scored better, which proves two things:

• First, Internet provides us a wide background knowledge in short time.
• Secondly, it makes a positive outcome on our school performance.

Less antisocial behavior. As the evidence suggest, using Internet for educational purpose could bring us academic performance success. The same as a domino effect, a child with school success would be less depressive and higher self-esteem. A survey by Kim (2011) indicates with these three sufficient requirements: good academic achievement, less depression, and high-esteem, children would be less antisocial behavior.

Written communication. Web 3.0 enables and supports innovative channels for online education, in which written communication is a fundamental form of transferring information. Furthermore, the way using mechanics such as spelling, punctuation, and capitalization constructed in a message can remarkably influence the interpretation/misinterpretation to one’s tone in his/her academic writing (Betts, 2009). Research indicates that people express feelings with combined use of word choice, sentence structure and even font (Stone, n.d., as cited in Betts, 2009). For this reason, psychologists study online writing style of suicidal people. Apparently, it can be applied for suicide risk assessment in what unique verbal characteristics that imply suicidal risk, and provoke an alarm for special attention (Barak & Miron, 2005). A child, like any living creature, needs to express anger, sorrow, and happiness. Also, whether direct or indirect, a child’s psychological need is diverse and complex. In other words, feeding and clothing a child will not matter if there is no caregiving or support (Williams, Ciarrochi, & Heaven, 2012). Thus, suicide risk assessment would favor parenthood concerns to note their child’s behavior and activities as a mean to have the right moves before any sorrowful tragic might happen.

References

Avery, M. E. (2004). What is good for children is good for mankind: The role of imagination in discovery. Science, 306(5705), 2212-3.

Barak, A., & Miron, O. (2005). Writing characteristics of suicidal people on the internet: A psychological investigation of emerging social environments. Suicide & Life – Threatening Behavior, 35(5), 507-24.

Betts, K. (2009). Lost in Translation: Importance of Effective Communication in Online Education. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer122/betts122.html

Chiou, W., & Wan, C. (2007). The dynamic change of self-efficacy in information searching on the internet: Influence of valence of experience and prior self-efficacy.The Journal of Psychology,141(6), 589-603.

Doan, K., & Bloomfield, A. (2014). The effects of browse time on the internet on students’ essay scores.

Kim, S. (2011).The effects of internet use on academic achievement and behavioral adjustment among south Korean adolescents: Mediating and moderating roles of parental factors.

Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Service (n.d.). Your preschool child’s speech and language development. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/earlychildhood/speechlanguage/brochure_preschool.aspx

Ritter, M. E., & Lemke, K. A. (2000). Addressing the ‘seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education’ with internet-enhanced education.Journal of Geography in Higher Education,24(1), 100-108.

Roulstone, S., Law, J., Rush, R., Clegg, J., & Peters, T. (2010, May 11). Investigating the role of language in children’s early educational outcomes. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181549/DFE-RR134.pdf

Terhi Tuukkanen,Terhi-Anna Wilska, (2015) “Online environments in children’s everyday lives: children’s, parents’ and teachers’ points of view”,Young Consumers, Vol. 16 Iss: 1, pp.3 – 16. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/YC-03-2014-00430

The World Bank (n.d.). Internet users (per 100 people). Retrieved May 27, 2015, from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2?cid=GPD_44

Williams, K. E., Ciarrochi, J., Heaven, P. C., & L. (2012). Inflexible parents, inflexible kids: A 6-year longitudinal study of parenting style and the development of psychological flexibility in adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(8), 1053-66.