The net effect

Abstract

Is life on the Internet having a disastrous effect on our children's minds? Or are they developing into the ultimate multi-taskers? E&T finds out. Internet access is everywhere these days in schools, households, and in many cases even the bedrooms from which children may soon lead us into the next phase of human evolution or reveal themselves to have been damaged by too much time spent in the virtual world. An overwhelming 99 per cent of children and young people aged eight to 17 regularly use the Internet in the UK, according to communications regulator Ofcom. In 2007 these children spent an average of 13.8 hours online per week, almost twice as long as they did in 2005. Interviews conducted at the end of 2008 by market research agency ChildWise in more than 90 schools in England, Wales and Scotland found that 37 per cent of children now go online in their own rooms, including one in five of five-to-eight-year olds. This year has seen a major boost to the intensity and the independence with which children approach online activities, says the 'ChildWise Monitor Report 2008-09'.